


Muse

by Gloppy_Otter



Category: Toriko (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Animals, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Cooking, Death, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family, Friends to Lovers, I changed it a little, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Slow Burn, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:07:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24703549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gloppy_Otter/pseuds/Gloppy_Otter
Summary: In almost everything created, there's a source of inspiration behind it, even if the creator themselves don't know. This could be anything, plants, animals, cultures, your goddamn combo partner who won't let you love them-
Relationships: Coco (Toriko)/Reader
Comments: 11
Kudos: 27





	1. A Peaceful Day

The cheese rabbit dipped down, eating the grass and hopped along the field, going about its day, unknowingly being followed by an unusual pair.

It flicked its ears up, seemingly sensing the pair but decided to continue bundling down the grassy area without much caution.

A mistake.

A shadow cast over the creature as it looked up. It froze at the sight, unable to move after seeing its predator. A swift bite to the neck finished them off.

The hunter hauled the corpse back to its owner, digging its claw into the ground to get her attention.

"Oh, back already?" She rubbed it’s head affectionately, "Good job, Fluffy." The creature leaned into the touch and grunted happily. “You’ve gotten better at this.”

They let out a loud huff in response.

"Okay, okay. I understand. 'You've always been good at this'." She says in a slightly lower pitch voice. 

They nodded in agreement. 

She smiled brightly at it. "Now, stay still so I can tie it to you securely, alright?"

She opened the satchels attached to the kelpie and pulled out a blue rope. "This is the last one we need to get, so we can leave after this."

* * *

Someone once said,

There is a beast covered with meat that melts in your mouth the moment it hits your tongue,

There are Omar lobster and king crab growing out of a tree.

That there is an amber coloured, high-quality mellow brandy eternally flowing out of a spring.

If someone told you that, would you believe them?

Mankind is fascinated by these flavours and is desperate to find more, a constant need for new flavours.

Welcome to the Gourmet Era!

The time of discovery of unknown tastes and food in this different reality. 

Let us follow the adventures of a chef, someone you already know very well.

* * *

_He said that he’ll pick it up here..._

The night air ran around your legs as the below lights grew even brighter. There was the distant sound of cars and people echoing from the streets below reaching your ears despite being so high up.

You waited patiently on the rooftop, where are you exactly? On the rooftop of Hotel Gourmet.

Why? Your friend told you that he needed to get some cheese rabbits. 

Why couldn't he buy it himself? Don’t ask so many questions.

You double-checked your texts, making sure you weren’t late/early. You didn’t want to get arrested for trespassing.

* * *

** Yesterday **

[You]

\- Just to make sure

\- At 19:30

-Yes?

[Chef Lâche]

-Yeah

-Tanks for doing this

[You]

-Tomorrow?

-On the rooftop?

[Chef Lâche]

-Yes

[You]

-I won’t get arrested?

[Chef Lâche]

-Yes

-You shouldn’t second guess yourself so much 

[You]

-Don’t tell me what to do

* * *

_Alright, I’m in the right place, at the right time._

...

_So why is he not here yet?!_

You wanted to leave this place, the longer you waited the more nervous you got. Your foot tapped the ground impatiently, and your hands found a place playing with the other. Meanwhile, Fluffy laid down on the ground, clearly not as nervous as his owner.

Once, a person came up to get something, and they glanced at you questioningly before leaving.

_I wonder if they’re talking crap about me with their friends_ _... I hope not, but I also hope they don’t think I’m a homeless person who somehow got on their roof. Please don’t snitch, pleasedon’tsnitchpleasedon’tsnitchpleasedon’tsnitch._

Five minutes passed.

Alright, you were leaving. Anymore waiting and you were going to have a cardiac arrest.

While you hated to disappoint your friend, you hated the idea of collapsing from nervousness more.

You turned to face your animal companion, getting ready to leave before the door slammed open, effectively scaring the shit out of you, while Fluffy doesn't seem all that scared.

"Sorry, I'm late! I was talking to the Business Bureau." He panted out in between breaths, "h-hold on, give me a second..." He held his index finger up before doubling over in exhaustion.

"It's fine..." You watched him try to fill his lungs with oxygen. "It's great to see your health is still in tip-top shape Komatsu." You teased, feeling the previous stress leaving your body.

He gave you the stink eye in response, still panting. "You," he huffed, "you were about to leave weren't you?" He pointed at you accusingly. 

"...Maybe." You averted your eyes, avoiding his look, "Listen, if I stayed any longer, I would have a heart attack."

"I refuse to believe that."

"Don't you care about my health?" You gasped dramatically. "You've become so cold..." 

"Never mind." He dismissed, "Did you get the stuff I asked for?" The tone he had was unmistakeably excited, not to mention the rocking back and forth with the wide smile.

"Yup. It's with Fluffy." He started to walk over towards the pair of you at the sound of his name.

"Wow... Did he get even bigger?"

"Yeah... He eats a lot, well, drinks." He huffed proudly at your words. "Why did you need me to get these? Don't you usually just buy them?" You asked while unbuckling the satchels attached to him.

"Well, there's going to be a party soon," He paused, looking uncomfortable from Fluffy's gaze. The two had met before, but Komatsu always seemed a little scared of the creature.

"Nice. Continue." You urged, noticing the tension between the two and decided to give him some price of mind by making Smokey lay down.

"And we need these ingredients, but since we couldn't find any that's good quality in time."

"Oh. That makes sense." The satchel fell to the ground with a thump, you picked it up and handed it over to him.

"Don't worry, I'll pay you back." He took the satchels from your hand after you offered it to him.

"I accept cash, card or ingredients." You said lifting a finger for each 

"You know damn well I can't hunt." He says, but there's an undertone of worry you noticed, or maybe you were just imagining things. 

"It's the thought that counts."

He sighs at your mocking tone. "Well, uh, I'll pay you back with cash?" He began pulling at the satchel trying to open it. 

"'Kay, pay me back before the end of this week. Not with your own money, the restaurant's money. I feel bad taking yours." He hummed in response and finally pulled the satchel open. 

"Wow! You really got me the best!" He exclaimed looking inside it.

"Yeah, it took me a while to find the Leek Deer's horns, but I got everything you asked." 

"Y-you really didn't have to get me the adult's." He held the horns in his hands, looking down at them with excitement, "the children's would have been fine too..." He **was** happy, but he didn't want you to go out of your way to get better ingredients for him. 

"Yeah, but the adult's taste better." 

"Well, thank you!" He smiled brightly, then stopped when he realised you weren't even looking at him anymore.

"Okay, bye." You sat on Fluffy's saddle and prepared to leave. "If you need me you know where to find me." He stepped forward a few steps before starting to gallop.

"Um! (Y/n)-san!" Komatsu called after you, catching your attention.

You placed a hand on your steed, "Yes? What's up?" Fluffy stopped in his tracks, huffing angrily at the sudden stop. "Why are you addressing me as 'San'?" You looked at him suspiciously, "what do you want from me? Did my brother call you again?"

"No I'm, ugh." He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "I'm going to with a Bishokuya tomorrow to catch a Galala Gator!" He shouted out, the thought clearly weighing on him. 

"Oh..." You processed his words, "Oh!" 

"Yeah... Have you got any tips or anything? Y’know, you’ve got more experience with this kind of stuff...”

"Good luck, you'll need it." He looked at you in shock.

“T-that’s all you have to say?!”

“You’ll need luck more than experience, buddy.” You thought to yourself. “But what else...? Hmm... They have a capture level of 5. Please tell me you got a good Bishokuya to hunt it. Any average one wouldn’t be able to take them down.”

"Yes! I got Toriko-san to hunt it!" 

_I have no idea who that is?_

You shrugged your shoulders. 

_Oh well, I hope he's reliable._

"You should be fine...? Unless it's really hungry or it's a big glutton, it shouldn't target you. It is territorial, so try to stay out of its way. They're also pretty dumb, they rely on brute strength." 

"...This one is a little different."

"Oh?” The tone of his voice picked up your interest once more, “how so?"

"This Galala Gator is approximately 300 years old..." 

This intrigued you. 300 years old? It might have destroyed the ecosystem it's living in. Furthermore, it probably sees itself as king of the island. Sounds like an inflated ego. But apart from that?

You got very excited at this potential study, very rarely is animals left unchecked for such long amounts of time. They're usually kept in check by other animals or people. You were racking possibility of the creature before realising that you are in fact an adult. And that means you have responsibilities. Sigh.

_Why must I be tethered to the chains of reality?_

Snapping out of your thoughts, you noticed that Komatsu seemed extremely nervous about it. His head hanging low and seemed to be trying to reassure himself.

_Oh... That’s right, he’s never hunted before..._

You cleared your throat, "be careful, Komatsu. It might have turned the local ecosystem upsidedown. If it lived that long, it must have no predators to keep it in check."

"...If you're telling me to be careful, then it's serious, huh?" His face grew pale with worry.

Crap, you’ve made him more nervous.

"Nah, it's only serious if it's you. If this 'Toriko' guy is half decent, you should be fine." You joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"What do you mean ‘only serious if it’s you’?!" He snapped angrily, making you giggle in response.

"You heard me. I said what I said."

"Grr..." he couldn’t deny your words, but it still made it infuriating.

Smirking at the response, you decided to try to wrap up this conversation. "Alright, is that all? Or do you have any other questions?"

He thought for a second before answering. "Do you want to eat something? I can make something for you."

"No, I can make my own food." You rejected politely. 

"Can you make something for me?" He said almost immediately after you.

"...You didn't actually want to make me something, did you? You just wanted to eat my food?" 

"...Perhaps..."

You laughed loudly at his response, "If you come to my cafe, I'll be sure to serve the best I can." 

This clearly irked the poor chef. "You haven't even told me where it is! I have no idea where you work!"

A cheeky smile was on your face. "Figure it out. It's not that hard."

He repeated your words in a sarcastic manner.

Fluffy huffed, telling you to hurry up. "Alright, I best be going now. Good luck, Komatsu!" 

"Bye!" A strong gust of wind from Smokey blew the chef's hat off of his head as he waved you goodbye.

Huh, maybe it time for Komatsu to start his new chapter. Now, what about you...?

You let out a satisfied sigh, staring up at the sky as Fluffy flew higher up into the sky. 

_The moon sure is beautiful tonight._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this was changed, I didn't like it. Sorry to the few people who read it, not much changed, I only tweaked it a little.


	2. Puffer Whale Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a longer than I thought, sorry.

A small child pointed excitedly at the cakes behind the glass, squealing at her father as an attempt to beg for the desserts she 'needed' or 'she would die'. 

He let out a low laugh at his child's antics then asked them which sweets she would like in their mother tongue while the owner looked at the scene happily, clicking the tongs in her hand. The child whispered frantically in his ear, bouncing on her heels, growing more excited when he started talking to the owner.

They exchanged pleasantries before he ordered. "I would like the fig tart and the raspberry caramel bar, please." He says in his thick accent.

"Alright," she began taking out and placing them in the cake box. "Is that all?"

"Yes, thank you." He takes the box and hands over the money, already knowing the price of the cakes. 

"Thank you, have a nice day..." She smiled warmly at the two of them leaving, the child trying to jump up into her father's arms, grasping for the cake box.

Afterwards, she immediately went off to the bookshelves, rearranging them and unintentionally eavesdropping into another conversation. 

"Oh yeah, have you heard about the Puffer Whales? It's migration for them this week."

"What? How does an idiot like you always know this type of stuff?" Their friend whispers back, keeping their voice under control, unlike their friend. "And anyway, who cares? I bet they're weird."

"Y'know, they're not weird."

"Mhm..."

"And I'm not an idiot!"

"Agree to disagree."

They scoffed. "I just have an interest in these sorts of things, it's related to my field of study."

"Just like you, your field of study is stupid. Animals are dangerous. Do you have no survival instincts?"

"You're just jealous. Maybe you should get a passion like me, or you'll end up homeless." There was an exasperated sigh. "But, hey, it's okay if you do. We all expected it. I'll donate some money for you to put towards your cardboard box house."

A loud smack followed with a mischievous giggle echoed through the room, forcing the owner to suppress a laugh before walking away from the two, carrying a pile of books reaching their chest. 

_A Puffer Whales, huh? Maybe I should close up shop earlier this week..._

* * *

"At last, we’re here!"

"This is the sandy beach of the cave!"

The wall's of the cave was bright due to the glowing blue crystals hanging from the ceiling, a stark contrast from the dank tunnels they've just been through. The water was extremely clear, even being able to see some fish from their current position despite being a fair distance away. Colourful corals were growing out of the sand, similarly to flowers in a field.

"It’s so pretty!" Komatsu shouted, whipping his head in every direction, soaking in his surroundings.

"Huh?" Toriko looked down, seeing a pair of footprints on the sand. "It seems like someone has already been here."

"Ah! It must be that old man! He was holding a bucket of Puffer Whale, on top of that he saved my life..."

"It must be the knocking master, Jirou," Coco stated.

"Oh? I thought I recognised a smell in the air earlier. It must have been that old man on the train."

"That old man with the pompadour?!" The chef looked at the pair ludicrously, not fully believing their words. 

"Yeah, he has a fantasy menu that barely anyone has tasted before! You can’t even put a capture level on it."

* * *

**Jirou’s Full Course:**

  * Hors d’Oeurvre - Hundred Leaf Clover
  * Soup - Magma Cosommé
  * Fish Dish - King Land Shark
  * Meat Dish - Ashurasaurus
  * Main Course - E.T Rice
  * Salad - Grana Lettuce
  * Dessert - Oasis Melon
  * Drink - Doham Spring Sake



* * *

"You should thank that old man one day by inviting him to your restaurant!"

"I will! Toriko, will you help me to provide the food?" His eyes sparkled, excited at the prospect of being able to cook such delicacies, even more so when he could get Toriko to provide the ingredients. 

That was, however, very quickly shot down.

"Nay! Do it yourself! Let’s go catch the delicacy of the sea!" Toriko rejected and practically ripped his shirt off. And I think you can imagine Komatsu's expression.

Coco ignored the two's banter and observed his surroundings, finding the view quite beautiful as well. When he was looking around, he quickly noticed something that didn't fit in. Next to a different set of footprints, there was a blue bag and a large thermos near a few rocks. It didn't belong to the old man, that much he knew, but there was definitely someone else here.

"There's a hunter still in here..." He states, catching Toriko and Komatsu attention.

"Eh? Who else is able to come down here?!"

"Looks like we got company!" Toriko said walking over to the bag, opening it, clearly not caring about any kind of privacy. "They must be getting the puffer whales right now."

"Toriko-san! You shouldn’t invade people’s belongings!" The chef scolded him.

"I’m sure they won’t mind. Anyways, I smell food in here!"

"Toriko!" Komatsu walked over to him, more annoyed, while Coco glanced in their direction. _Toriko really hasn't changed at all..._

"He probably just found some food that smells rather nice. You can leave him."

"He shouldn't, it's someone else's food..." Komatsu trailed off after getting a closer look at the bag, finding something familiar about it. 

Coco sighed, "Toriko, you shouldn’t eat other people’s food." Coco said, looking at his brother with a deadpanned face. Toriko had chomped down on it without a second thought.

"Toriko-san! Leave that castella alone!"

The Bishokuya's eyes widened as he swallowed down the bite, seemingly processing the food. 

"Toriko! What if the person gets angry at us!" Komatsu panicked, before noticing the look on his face. "Toriko-san? Are you okay?" While it's not unusual for people to savour their meals, a castella is a simple cake, there's barely any complexity, so there was no real need to savour it. 

He snapped back to reality, noticing the concerned look of his friends. He burst into a wide grin. "You guys! You gotta try this!" He shoved the cake in their faces. "It’s really good!"

"No thank you," Coco said simply, looking inside the contents of the bag from afar. There was a small bundle of notebooks that clearly been used to the brim and bits of paper sticking out the sides. There was also a small pouch, a bundle of clothes and a large thermos. It was... messy, to say the least.

Even if Toriko's reaction piqued his interest, he knew better. "I’m not going to steal other people’s food!"

"Fine! I’ll eat it all myself!" He said taking another bite, clearly enjoying the cake. "Mmm! So good!"

...Maybe Komatsu didn't know better. As he was now growing jealous of the man eating the cake.

"We should probably get going, the puffer whales might leave early," Coco said, walking to the water and crouched down, inspecting the waters. "There are lots of sea fireflies, so you should be able to find the puffer whales in the water clearly."

"Komatsu-kun, get in the water too! You should watch Coco’s technique, you came for that didn’t you?"

"Ah, Yes! Uhm," he paused looking at the water cautiously, "Is there any ferocious animals in there? Like sharks?"

"Don’t worry, even if there is, they’ll be 100% cuter than The old man or the devil serpent!" Toriko laughed, ripping his shoes and socks off.

"E-even if you compare them to such monsters-" He was cut off by the sound of water splashing. "Eh?" They all looked over to the sound.

There was a head peeking out the water looking at the three men. It was quite far away, not to mention that the further out into the cavern, the fewer lights there was, so they couldn’t make out any facial features.

They all blinked at each other. None of them quite expected this.

"Oh, hello." Coco greeted.

She quickly dived back down, away from view.

"Ah! After her! I want that cake recipe!" Exclaimed Toriko, diving in the water in pursuit.

"Toriko-san?!"

"Stay here, Komatsu-kun, I don’t want Toriko to chase some poor random person for some food. It won't take long," said Coco, following. 

"Okay!"

When Coco dived under the water he could see Toriko confronting the poor girl. She had a small fish net filled with a few puffer whales in her hand. Surprisingly, none of them was poisoned. He was amazed, not many people could catch a puffer whale without poisoning it.

_Just who is she?_

However, he was not amazed to see his brother swimming after this poor girl who was a very slow swimmer. To be fair though, anyone would seem like a slow swimmer compared to Toriko, who swam as fast as a shark despite his body not being to the best to streamline. 

The girl quickly swam up to the surface, clearly wanting to get way from Toriko. To her displeasure, he followed very closely and in fact was closing the distance very quickly. "Get back here!"

While this was a funny sight, Coco also felt bad for her being chased he tried to get Toriko to come back, but he was either ignored or he didn't get the message. He followed after the pair, following them as they swam back to the beach. Sadly, he wasn't as fast as Toriko either. 

She scampered away from the glutton, snatching her bag on the way before being stopped by a voice.

"(Y/n)-chan!" The girl froze and quickly turned her head to look at Komatsu.

"... Hello Komatsu..." She said quietly while giving a slight wave, not quite knowing what to do. "...-kun." She added, not wanting to seem too close to him just in case Komatsu didn't want them to know (which arguably made it more suspicious).

Komatsu didn't bat an eye at her behaviour, telling the other two men that this must have been fairly common for her to behave this way.

"I haven’t seen you since I asked you to get me those ingredients for the party!" Komatsu smiled widely, gripping her hands and started to shake them wildly out of excitement.

"'M-Matsu." She stuttered, trying to get him to calm down. While it wasn't unusual for him to be excited, this was a bit over the top. _Did something happen?_

He seemed to get the gist and stopped. "Ah, sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Again, thanks for catching them."

"It’s fine," she picked your little bag of whales from the sand, "did you manage to get the Galala Gator?"

"Well, yes, and no..." he averted his eyes from her, remembering the memory. 

"...?" She tilted her head at this and tried to figure out his words. "What... do you mean?"

"Never mind! I’ll tell you later." He franticly waved the memory away. "I thought that bag looked familiar," he said, pointing to the object in her hands. 

"Mhm. I bring it everywhere with me."

"If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?"

"Oh... I-"

"Is that a Puffer Whale?!" He shouted, clearly shocked. She blinked owlishly at this.

_You only **just** realised?_

"Uh, yes. Puffer whales" she corrected, adding slight emphasis to the ‘s’. It wasn't intentional to add a bit of attitude in her words, but it slipped in anyways. 

"Ohh... They're smaller than I expected..." He says, reaching out to hold the net, which she handed over for him to inspect. 

The two Kings watched the exchange in confusion before one of them decided to interrupt. 

"How do you guys know each other?" Toriko asked. 

"Ah, right! This is (Y/n)-chan, she’s a friend of mine! She's also a chef!" Komatsu exclaimed, seemingly proud as he puffed his chest out. 

"Ah, nice to meet you! I’m Toriko." He said, extending his hand, "sorry for eating your cake..." he added sheepishly.

She looked at the hand wearily before slowly shaking it.

" Nice to meet you too. And about the cake, It’s fine, I can make more..." She says, "sorry for running away, I thought you were going to...."

_Attack me? Steal the whales? Talk to me?_

"It's nothing actually." She brushed off. Then gave his words a second thought.

_He went through my bag?_

Coco observed the newcomer, feeling a sense of curiosity. 

Her electromagnetic waves were very soft compared to others. Weak, but there seemed to be something else lurking there, not necessarily bad. But considering she was able to come down to the puffer whale cave without any injuries, she had to be hiding something. Which was strange, because is she was, she wasn't letting any hints show. 

Her clothes were dull and boring but seemed to be very comfortable. Not anything you would give a second look at. She looked like she could pass and as a feminine boy at first glance, but at closer inspection, you would know that it was a she. Or at least you wouldn't be able to tell what gender they were. 

"Hello, (Y/n)-san." She cast her eyes over to him. He seemed to be familiar, maybe she has seen him before.

"My name is Coco, it's nice to meet you." But if she did see him before, she would've definitely remembered those eyes. 

Anyone would.

She was temporarily spellbound before giving back her response. "Uh, you too..." Her eyes glanced over all of them, then switching over to the exit. "Alright, I’ll best be going now-" 

"(Y/n)-chan! You should stay and help us catch puffer whales, also we need to catch up! We haven’t talked face to face in a while." Komatsu said, excitedly, meanwhile she seemed reluctant. 

"Um, no, I don’t think I should bother you and your friends-"

"Nah, it’s fine, besides, you can catch puffer whales, right?" Toriko said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Plus, more the merrier!"

"I really don’t-"

"Come on! Please!" Komatsu said, almost begging. "Don’t leave me with the sharks!"

She averted her eyes from to floor back up. "...Okay..."

"Great! Now, let’s catch my puffer whales!" Toriko said like an excited child then jumped back in the water at the same time Coco dived in.

(Y/n) left her fishnet of puffer whales on the shore before trailing after them with Komatsu last to join.

-

The clear water didn’t surprise you, I mean you were in here for a whole hour earlier.

_How did I end up helping these guys? I wish they were like the old man, he came in here for a few minutes and left me alone completely... Actually, it was very impressive, he barely spent any time here and he caught a whole bucket of puffer whales._

_.....And I spent a whole hour and only got three....._

* * *

**Puffer Whale (Fish) - Capture level: 29**

(Y/n)’s Notes:

They're a pretty docile and cowardly fish that prefer to travel in large schools at all times and will even huddle together in the shape of a giant Puffer Whale to fool predators.

It has an extremely potent nerve poison in a sack in its body which is all the wastes and poisons in its body compressed into a sack. Each Puffer Whale has a unique poison sack location. They are extremely sensitive as the slightest touch can break the sack.

Almost every part of the Puffer Whale is edible and they also have different properties:

  * Tongue: It is a high concentration of fat and when heated it turns into oil. The oil can be used over and over again without turning old.
  * Organs: They possess a high concentration of nutrients and energy. If eaten raw, a person can work ten days in a row without sleep. 
  * Skin: If dried, its freshness won't drop for a century.
  * Body: Its meat starts shining when the poison sack is taken. The meat is also as moistened as rice cakes. There is also some energizing effect, but it is lower than the organs.
  * Backfin: Can be used for making soup. The taste won't drop even if it's used continually for 3 years. It can also be used to make Puffer Fin Sake. But I don't like alcohol very much.
  * Poison Sac: Apparently, even the deadliest part of the Puffer Whale can be eaten if prepared properly. Personally, I like it with poison. (Joking, I wish I could eat poison)



* * *

You approached the large gathering of puffer whales. They gathered together to look like one singular creature to scare off any predators. But really, the poison in their body does most of the scaring. 

You watched Toriko go first in an attempt to catch them. Or the blue-haired one, you didn't remember his name.

Anyways, Coco (again, you didn't really remember their names) stuck his hand out as a poor attempt to tell him not to touch the creatures.

_To be fair, there wasn't much he could do considering we're underwater._

You looked back at Toriko, to see him poison the whale he tried to catch. It instantly turned purple. Not surprising, the puffer whale turns poisonous at the slightest threat. The positive thing was that he seemed to know what he did wrong.

Coco waved him back, telling him that he'll try to catch them next.

_Ah crap, am I next?_

**Splash!**

You turned your head back in alarm of the water moving around wildly.

_Shark? Swordfish?_

_Oh, it’s just Komatsu... Wait!_

_He’s going to turn all of the whales poisonous if he keeps swimming like that!_

You were about to stop him before Toriko quickly told him to stop swimming like he’s drowning.

Actually, didn't Komatsu tell you that he couldn't swim very well?

Oh well, he should be fine if he went into the water willingly. 

You look back at Coco, wondering how he would approach the whales. He seemed to be more careful than Toriko.

You felt... His presence disappearing?

_Where did he go? What the heck?_

You looked around the area, trying to find him, to no avail.

_Alright, calm down, he's probably nearby..._

You closed your eyes in concentration and reopened them after a moment.

_Ah, there he is._

Like you thought, he didn't actually go anywhere, instead, he was closer to the whales.

_Relaxed yet concentrated..._

You watched carefully, drinking in every detail. He brought out a knocking gun and carefully used it on one of the whales. he seemed to be very specific in the degree of the knocking gun as he tilted his hand and held it there very still before striking.

It didn’t turn poisonous.

You stared at the limp fish in his hand, amazed at how he did it. You had another method, so it was quite interesting to see it being done a different way. 

Coco turned around to you, expecting you to give it a shot, but it seems like Toriko wanted to go again, swimming in front of you.

Toriko had copied Coco's technique with one look, as he also erased his presence. You felt your smile creep up on your face, amazed at the two of them. So much to learn.

Coco offered the knocking gun to him, and he declined the offer.

_Does he have his own? Or is he using something else? Nope, he’s using his hand- Oh, he did it the same as Coco. Ah, but it still became poisonous..._

Coco had seemed to compliment Toriko, making some hand motions in the water before the two men looked at you expectantly. 

_What do they- Oh. I guess it’s my turn..._

You swam up to the puffer whales and looked at each one of them, choosing one from the group carefully. 

_That one? Or maybe this one? Hmmm, there's so many to choose fro-_

An image flashed in your mind, alerting you over to the left. Looking over, one stood out to you instantly. 

_This one seems good..._

It didn't move its fins as often as the other whales, it also blinked more than the others. Suggesting that it was more tired and relaxed than the others. Maybe older too?

Extending your hand, you were about to start knocking, but felt a tap on your shoulder. It was Coco, he held out the knocking gun to you, offering it for you to use. Smiling back at him politely, you shook your head and turned back to the creature.

You brought your hand out to the whale you singled out, then did the unthinkable for the two kings, holding the fish in your hand gently.

_What are you doing?!_ You could practically hear Toriko shout in your ear.

And on the other hand, you could feel that Coco was analysing the situation, his eyes unintentionally burning the back of your head. 

_....I would like it more if you didn't watch me..._

You brushed off your nerves, and rubbed the bottom of the gill, causing the whale to relax in your hand, still not poisonous. Good, good. It's working.

You brought your hand over the top of the dorsal fin, stopping midway then yanked downwards. The fish flopped over in your hand and didn’t turn poisonous, a small smile came onto your face. 

_Thank God it was a success! I wouldn't be able to face the embarrassment if I failed that time..._

When you turned back to face them, you accidentally let out of a bubble of air, feeling your limit underwater running out. Thankfully the suggested they go up for air. 

When reaching the surface, you filled your lungs with as much air as possible, you were _really_ pushing the limits of your lungs down there. 

Talking about pushing limits, you felt your limbs being a bit more tired than usual. Ugh, maybe you could go back to land quickly without them noticing. Oh, maybe you could run back home and sleep if you're fast enough. Yeah, that could happen, you just have to get out unnoticed-

"How did you touch it without poisoning it?" Toriko asked, to break the silence.

Nevermind, it might be a while until you can feel the sand under your feet. 

You thought for a second, thinking about your answer. Finding it hard to put your idea into words. "I think the puffer whales doesn’t see me as a threat... I mean, they only turn poisonous if they sense ‘killing intent’ right? So I just never let ‘killing intent’ out..."

_Why do my words sound so awkward? Why did God decide to punish me this way? Actually, what did I do to deserve this?_

You felt like the two men were judging you, even though they hadn’t said anything.

_Alright, it's time to leave. I must go._

"I think that I’m going to try to remove the poison sack now, so I’m going to the shore? Okay?" You said pointing at the shore, wanting to leave the two of them as quickly as possible.

"Do you know how to remove the poison sack?" Coco asked, seemingly impressed.

"...No? I'll learn though." And this that simple response, off you went. Swimming away. 

Toriko shrugged at your departure. "Whatever, I'm not leaving until I at least get one!" Toriko declared, then dived back down.

Coco took a second look back at you before diving back down.

———

"Wah! (Y/n)-chan! Why are you back so soon?" Komatsu questioned, watching you walk back onshore. He noticed the dejected look on your face. "(Y/n)-chan? You okay?"

"I think I said something stupid and they're judging me..." You sigh out into your hands, plopping down on the sand. "Why wasn't I born as an animal so I won't have social embarrassment...?" You murmured to yourself. 

You were much more comfortable talking to your friend than the two kings, thus, more open to him. 

"Ah... still not used to it, huh?" He says, looking down at your state. 

"I’m never going to make any other friends apart from you... Ugh..." You whined, upset at the realisation. "My only friends are going to be animals, well, I guess that not too bad."

"Don't worry, you will..." He tried comforting, which you only whined softly back to him.

"...Liar... You don't know what will happen..."

He sighed, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to change your mood, and chose to try and distract your thoughts instead. "Then, how were you going to prepare the puffer whale? Do you know how to do it?"

"...Why do both of you ask the same thing?"

"Who?"

"No one." You sat up from your spot, "well, I don't know how to prepare one, but I figured I'd probably be able to figure it out. If people in the past done it, so can I."

"H-heh? So you have no idea how to do it?!"

"Yeah, do you?" 

"Ah... No, but Coco-san does. I'm hoping he'll teach me, or I can learn from watching." He answers, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Huh?"

_Coco? The, uh, one with the turban?_

"Oh, yeah, I just have a question while we're talking about him.." 

"Mhm?"

"You know... Uh, the black-haired one?" You started, getting the attention of your friend. "I think, you said that his name is...Coco? Coco-san?"

"...How do you forget his name- Nevermind." He shook his head. "What about him? Ohh, don’t tell me-"

"No, I don’t like him."

"That’s not what I was gonna ask..." He said with a shit-eating grin. He has never seen you take interest in someone and instead you never talked about the people you met unless he had brought it up, so this was new.

"Don’t make me smack you."

"We both know you’re too nice to do that." You raised your eyebrow at this.

"Wanna bet?"

"...Nevermind, I'm not that confident."

"Mhm, that's what I thought."

"So, what was the question? I probably won't be able to answer but maybe...?"

You coughed, a poor attempt to covering your embarrassment, "I just wanted to know, is he, like..." You watched his smile get bigger, "ah, never mind. It’s fine. It was a strange question anyway."

"What? No! Tell me!" He whined.

"Nah," you reached for your bag, "it’s not that important." You pulled out the textbooks and a pencil, clearly showing you had other plans than to remove the poison sack.

"Oh, did you come to the cave to research about the puffer whales?"

"Not so much ‘research’, more so stalking." You joked, "I need to finish writing about them." She mumbled, scribbling in the book. "I found a new way to knock one."

"Eh? What? How? When?"

You answered him with another question instead. "Oh, also," you continued writing not looking back at him, "how was the rainbow fruit? You told me that you were going to get some and never told me about it."

He didn’t respond at first, making you turn around, "Komatsu-kun? What's- Whoa! What the?!" He was drooling so much, the drool started to make a small puddle in the sand.

"(Y/n)-chan~, it was amazing... I wish I could have saved some for you!" He exclaimed.

"That’s nice, but you should clean your mouth. Actually, just clean your whole jaw." You threw a towel at his head and turned back to writing, not wanting to see his drool soaked face.

"Ack! You’re so mean sometimes!" He said wiping his face. "Is Fluffy with you?"

You put your index finger in front of your lips, telling him to shush.

"Huh? Is something wrong...?"

"He is with me, but I don't want them to know about Fluffy." You stated, holding your thermos closer to you as it rattles. 

"...Why?"

"I...I don't trust them." 

———

"Fuuu! I finally captured one!"

"We got quite a few, Komatsu-Kun and (Y/n)-san!"

Komatsu perked up at this, he gave up swimming a while ago and instead talked to you to pass the time.

"Awesome! We got a lot! With (Y/n)’s ones we got 15 altogether!" Komatsu said excitedly, clapping his hands together looking down on the whales that were sitting on the cloth. You had stopped writing and chose to tune into the conversation now.

"We only caught 12 together, huh Toriko?" Coco said, wiping aged from his face.

"But how pathetic is it to have two of the four kings go at it for an hour, and only get twelve?" Toriko said disappointed.

"You’re a king?" You repeated, tilting your head, "you’re both kings?"

"Ah?! You don’t know them?!" Komatsu said, shocked. "They’re both ‘Heavenly Kings’!"

"Am I suppose to know them?" You questioned yourself in a whisper, scared you had offended them. This is _not_ a good first impression.

"Ah, no, you don’t have to know about us. It’s just that lots of people do." Coco said reassuring you.

"Yeah, I don’t really care," Toriko said looking at the puffer whales hungrily, clearly not caring about the conversation.

_Oh, thank God._

"Now," Coco started looking in his pouch, "this is the real deal from here on! (Y/n)-san, were you able to remove the poison sack from any of the puffer whales?" He asked looking at you.

"Ah! Uh, no. I was writing instead... I was hoping you would know how to do it?"

_Shit! Why would I use that excuse, I should have used another one!_

"That’s fine, I can do it," Coco said, not noticing the female chef panicking next to him.

"The retail market price of a Puffer Fish Whale that hasn’t turned poisonous is about 100 million but in the case of the poison sack where it’s been completely removed, this jumps up to 300 million," Coco informs the little group.

"However, if it becomes poisonous, it becomes 0. Unless you decide to go to the black market route, in which case it’s about 8 million. Of course, if you choose that route, there's a 100% chance you will die." He says cheerily.

_That's... Your tone is... A bit unsuiting for your words... Don't you think?_

"T-this is like lottery tickets that could be worth 300 million each... or turn into pieces of paper..." Komatsu's hands trembled in shock. 

"Money got nothing to do with this," Toriko glanced at Coco, "We’ll leave this to you, Coco."

Coco held the knife in his hand and his eyebrows crossed in concentration, there was a thick tension in the air now. We all looked at the puffer whales, nervous from anticipation.

"... Don’t get mad at me if I fail all 15..." He turned his head back at us in worry.

"I will get mad! I’ll never forgive you if you fail all of them!" Toriko exclaimed, eyes in worry and anger.

"Come on Coco-san! You can do it!" Komatsu took the pleading route an out his hands up in a praying way.

"...You have the best chance out of all of us anyways..." You stated.

"I mean it’s been a while,"

"Foretell the probability of success then!"

"....."

_Uh oh, that doesn't seem good._

"Tell us honestly, what percentage is it?!"

"Honestly? About 10%..."

"Only one?! We’re only going to get to eat one?!"

"And a half..."

"You can't have half of an unpoisoned Puffer Whale!"

"Not with that attitude."

"If you round it up it’ll be 2 whales."

"That's not how this works!"

——-

Three of the whales failed...

They had put the whales into two little piles, poisoned and not poisoned. Coco was sweating purely out of concentrating too hard and was breathing heavily.

The sight wasn't unusual, it was common in the kitchen for people to just sweat from concentrating too hard. 

"Heeyy, did you remove the poison sack?" Toriko called from across the shore, he had started fishing halfway through the first fish.

"Why are you doing something so relaxing like fishing, Toriko-san?!"

"He had little patience since the old days, Komatsu-Kun, leave it alone."

"Did you catch any fish?" You asked, looking over to him. 

"Don’t encourage him (Y/n)-chan!" Your friend slapped the back of your head, making you wince in pain. You kicked his shin in retaliation.

\---

Komatsu had given Toriko an earful and made him switch actions. He decided to boil some sake instead.

"What? You can’t even cut the fin off quickly?" Toriko whined, turning up the heat.

"Please be quiet for a bit, Toriko-san." The chef countered, before doing a double-take on him. "Why are you already setting up the Atsukan already?!"

You completely tuned them out, concentrating on the preparation method. Coco started slicing on different parts for each puffer whale.

First, he started from the top of the fish, then for the second one, he cut near the tail, and the third one right in the middle.

He’s changing the process depending on where the poison sack is. That meant there are probably hundreds of ways to cut puffer whale.

_I wonder how he’s able to tell where the sac is for each one?_

Coco's hand hovered over the bladder of the fish.

_...It's trembling slightly..._

He almost started slicing again, but he noticed your concerned expression and followed your gaze, he understood instantly. Stopping and putting his knife down.

_Eh?_

"...Komatsu-kun." Coco got the attention of the chef.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?"

"Instead of me, couldn’t you handle it?"

"Eh?! Me?!"

"I’m tired today, so my skill is messed up." He sighed out, "just a millimetre of carelessness, and it’ll become poisonous."

"Ah! But...!" Komatsu glanced over to you, probably asking for permission despite it not really being your place to tell him what to do. 

"It’s fine, have confidence! You’re a professional chef right?" Coco smiled at the chef.

You spoke up, "you’ll do fine Komatsu, you’re an excellent chef." Though the words were quiet, it instilled confidence in the chef, causing a smile to break out on his face.

"Ah, if you’re okay with it. Then I’ll see it as a challenge!" He pulled out a chef’s outfit from his bag and placed them next to him.

_...You just carry that around?_

"Ehh? You’re leaving it to Komatsu-Kun, Coco?" He took another sip of the sake, "is that going to be alright?"

"Why don’t you, instead of spending your free time drinking, go catch some more puffer whales?" Coco was slightly annoyed at his brother, who was pouring himself another cup.

"Komatsu-kun, here." Coco offered the knife he was using before to Komatsu.

"Ah, no thanks. I brought my own tools, well, to be fair I always bring my tools with me." He pulled out a bundle of cloth and unravelled it, showing the knives inside. Coco seemed impressed with them.

"Ah, your knives look better than the last time I saw them."

"Well, I’ve been using them every day," he pulled the chef’s outfit over his head, "and maintaining them. Thanks for giving the sharpening stone it as a gift." He finished, buttoning it on.

"It’s fine, the knives look happy, I’m happy..." You had a somewhat satisfied look on your face, then shifted your attention on your belongings. Alright, you were going to clean it a bit while you have some free time. 

Coco started instructing Komatsu on the preparation of the fish while you were cleaning your bag, putting the fishnet you had used earlier in a plastic bag before stuffing it in your bag, and organising the textbooks you had brought.

You sweatdropped.

_H-he really did eat my cake..._

The sight of the empty cake box made your stomach let out a tiny growl.

_...I should have brought another one... I don't even know if I'll even be able to eat the puffer whale..._

\---

You looked back over to the pair after she finished cleaning and noticed there were only 8 fishes left.

_Oh, this is Komatsu’s 4th one._

"For this one, you need to..."

You didn't hear him, your attention was completely drawn to the whale, not even paying listening to him anymore. 

The poison sack was now visible, pulsating occasionally. This was the closest they've gotten to removing the sack. Both of the men were sweating from the tension, even Toriko joined and he sat closely watching the chef.

Komatsu had left the knife and now was using his hands to try to slowly scoop the organ out. Unfortunately, a loud animal's call came from the cave exit, startling the poor chefs and the sack leaked out the poison. 

_That scared the carp out of me. Now, was that an Opal Bat's call...?_

"NO! DAMN IT!" Toriko shouted, slapping his hands on his head in frustration.

"A-ah, I'm sorry Coco-san, Toriko-san...." Komatsu seemed genuinely upset at messing up this attempt. 

"No, it wasn't your fault, let's just try again." Coco said, adding the toxic whale to the 'failure' pile and placing another one in front of the chef.

"Alright! This one will be the one!" Your friend declared confidently, his mood spiking back up.

Meanwhile, you picked up the three puffer whales you caught, sneaking off into your own little corner of the cave. None of the three men noticed, caught up in Komatsu's progress. Good for you.

_Should I take this opportunity to run away...?_

You shook that thought away and opened your bag.

It seemed to be more straight forward than you thought, locate the sack, makes it visible, then remove it with your hands. Just be very careful, don't make any unnecessary movement. Easier said than done.

You laid down a piece of cloth, then opened your knife pouch. Glancing over it, checking for any damages from the journey down. After finding nothing, you took a deep breath. 

Now, it's your turn to try.

Holding the whale, you tried to find where the poison sack is. This... could be a problem. Unlike Coco, you had no real idea how to find the sack inside the whale. 

Well, you wouldn't be able to see it, there had to be another way.

Closing your eyes, you let your hands glide over the skin of the fish, the texture of the fish is surprisingly not as slimly you'd expect. You trailed from the gills to the tail, a blurry image coming to mind.

.....

Here.

You stopped over one specific spot, near the left pectoral fin. About 4 cm deep? You opened your eyes again, needing a clear view of the fish. Bringing out your knife, you cut into the fish. 

Carefully...

You dragged the knife upwards, avoiding direct contact with the organ. 

**Carefully...**

You fully understood why Komatsu was sweating so much when he was doing it, feeling your hands were coming wetter. It took so much of your concentration that you didn't this level of concentration was even possible. 

But despite that, it felt so _natural_. You felt your hand moving on its own, almost as if you've done it thousands of time before. 

The poison sack was in front of you, and you reached out for it, scooping the membrane surrounding it into your hand, then finally the sack.

...

I'm not saying that was the most satisfying thing you've ever felt, but it's up there.

It started sparking a gold shine, also looking like it changed colour. From the pure white to shimmering gold.

_....This fish might be the most dramatic animal I've ever met._

You put aside the golden ingredient and opened your thermos, whispering, "Fluffy...? You awake?"

He angrily stirred in the bottle, clearly telling you that he's bored. "I know, I know. But I can't let you back out, some people decided to join us." He flicked a speck of water at your face in retaliation. "Calm down! Geez..." You picked up the prepared puffer whale, "here, eat this. Stay patient, okay...?" You say, putting the fish in, and closing the bottle. 

_Alright, now the next one..._

-

"Aww yeah!"

"Success! The 10th one success!" Toriko happily shouted.

"The puffer whale gives off radiance when the poison sack isn’t inside them anymore!" Coco stated.

You turned around to look at the sight, of course, Komatsu was able to remove it. He was, and is, an extremely talented chef.

Your friend didn’t even have anything to say, and instead broke down crying. Well, he did have something to say, but no one could tell what it was, his words coming out as incoherent blubbering.

Well, you should at least congratulate him, it is an amazing feat.

You carefully wrapped up the makeshift 'kitchen' and walked over, "Komatsu, you did well..." You hoped these would calm him down a little. He was always a little more on the emotional side.

"No! It was Coco-san’s precise instructions!" He corrected, still crying.

_No... It was your skill..._

"Komatsu!" Toriko put a hand on his shoulder, "for the first time, I’m glad I brought you along!"

You bit the inside of your cheek, stopping yourself from laughing.

Your friend had stopped crying at the bluntness of the words, "thank you very much?"

He cleared his throat, before speaking, "I think it’s (Y/n)-chan's turn to prepare the puffer whales."

"Huh?" You croaked out, not believing what he said. Actually, no. You should have expected this. Komatsu probably thought that you were missing out. Considerate bastard.

"What? Can’t you do the rest?" Toriko-san asked, shocked, while Coco looked at him, intrigued by the idea.

You looked at your friend like he just shot your arm.

He ignored your look and continued speaking. "You caught some of the puffer whales too, it’s only fair that you get a chance to prepare them as well." He shivered, as your look grew more intense but still continued. "That’s the reason you came down here isn’t? To learn how to prepare the fish..."

You weren’t angry, but you didn’t like people watching you cook. Which Coco had to do if you needed instructions. Thankfully, you can avoid this whole situation.

"There's no need, I learned how to do it." You said quietly staring down at your hands.

"What? Watching doesn't count as learning." There was confusion clear on Komatsu's face.

"No, I..." You trailed off, unravelling the bundle of cloth in your hands, showing the two golden fish. "I tried it myself."

"E-Ehhhh?!" Komatsu took the whale from you holding up in the air in disbelief then sighed, "of course you did..."

"Good job." The blue-haired man stuck up a thumb up and was drooling slightly that the thought of eating the whales.

"Oh. Thanks, Toriko-san." You awkwardly thanked.

Coco stayed quiet throughout this exchange, but you definitely felt his gaze on you. Subtle, but unmistakable.

——

They had left the rest of the preparation of the puffer whale to you and they began to prepare other things. Komatsu laid the puffer whale out in an appealing way, while Coco helped Toriko make the fin sake. While you didn't mind getting some extra practice, it didn't really feel like a fair distribution of work.

Which is probably the reason why Komatsu wanted your job instead. You sighed to yourself.

A workaholic as always. He can never seem to let go of work sometimes.

"Alright! Let’s celebrate the capture of the puffer whale!" They only brought 3 cups, so you just raised your water bottle to the three men lifting the cups in a toast, not that you drink alcohol anyways.

Toriko and Komatsu took a sip of the sake while Coco gently placed his cup down. "Fuuu, delicious..." Toriko breathed out before taking another sip.

"Coco-san are you not going to drink the sake?" Komatsu asked, looking over to him.

Coco puts his hands up in a defensive manner, "I can’t."

_Oh, can he not hold his alcohol well?_

Toriko hummed at the response then proceeded to pick up his chopsticks. "Then now! Time for the main event!" Toriko quickly destroyed the presentation of the sashimi by scooping up a bundle of fish and drooling at the sight in his chopsticks. "Wahhh! So pretty! It practically shining!" 

_He's eating like a starving bear..._

"No! You took too much Toriko-san, I tried so hard to make it look pretty too!" Komatsu cried in protest of the hunter scooping up a third of the fish, while Coco sweat dropped watching their antics continue. 

_He really has no refinement..._ Coco thought to himself, sighing and drew his attention elsewhere.

He looked over to the other chef, who was chewing happily on the sashimi with a satisfied look. "Is it good, (Y/n)-san?" He asked, startling you, making you jump in your spot.

"Uh, yeah, it’s good." The words tumbled out of your mouth.

He smiled at you, "I noticed that you only brought two puffer whales over instead of the three you had."

_Fuck, he noticed._

You paused for a second. _I could lie..._ "I failed on the first one." You nervously laughed, rubbing your thumb over your hand.

_Oh, that felt bad._ Lying was never your strong suit, as Coco didn't seem to believe you. There was an awkward silence between the two of you before you decide to speak again.

_This might be the last chance I can ask him... I mean, I don't plan to see him ever again..._

"Uh, can I ask, something?"

He seemed surprised at your question but didn't think much of it."Sure. What is it?"

"Are you okay? Like, medically."

"...Why are you asking?" He quickly saw the panic in your eyes from his words, concluding that you didn't mean anything negative from your question. "I'm not in immediate danger. But could you please answer me?"

"Oh, that's good." You let out a relieved sigh, "I was thinking that you ate something poisonous or injected it into yourself somehow."

"...Your line of thought wouldn't be far from the truth."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Since you didn't know who I am, it's no wonder you didn't know my condition." He murmured looking down then turned back to you. "I'm poisonous."

"Oh, that makes sense, no wonder I thought what I did." You say non-nonchalantly, not noticing the change of tone in his voice when he told you. "I work with animals, so I kinda get the feeling when one of them is poisonous... Oh! N-not that I’m comparing you to an animal, it’s just that-" Your face grew red as he continued listening to your ramble, simply being too polite to interrupt you. You groaned in your embarrassment, "Never mind... How did it happen? Your, uh, condition."

On a side note, he found your skittishness amusing. But apart from that, he was more impressed by the fact that you could feel it. Of course, he told you, it was an open secret. "My past job is a Bishokuya, and as one, you'll tend to use have some antibodies in case of ever encountering a venomous and or poisonous creature."

"Mhm..."

"My body can handle more antibodies than the average person, so they all combined and created a new type of poison." His tone was a matter of fact, but you felt a hint of sadness.

You wanted to know more about why he was sad but didn’t press on. If he didn’t want to tell you, he doesn’t need to tell you. Anyways, you had secrets yourself, don’t you? You tried smiling at him reassuringly but most likely failed, judging by his surprised look.

_Damn it, why are you like this..._

"Komatsu-kun! How was it?!" Toriko had finished the scoop of sashimi and now looking over to the chef, excited for his answer. It was actually kinda sweet, the genuinity of his feelings.

Komatsu had a look of bliss and responded quickly. "It’s great the-"

You had turned the conversation out and turned your head over to the ocean. There was an uncertainty turning in your stomach, and you could no longer ignore it. A sense of danger was gripping at your legs, begging you to run from the threat.

Coco was watching the two men talk, feeling a sense of comfort at their positive expressions. However, that quickly changed. He looked over the other chef, expecting much of the same, but it was the complete opposite.

Instantly, he noticed your discomfort, your internal panic and followed your stare. It was leading to the ocean, there wasn't anything new in the view, but he also recognised the reason why you were behaving like this. 

"Toriko." He needed to confirm his suspicions. 

"Huh, what's-"

There was a slash of water, and a bird-like thing came out of the water. The dread you felt forced a response from you.

_Flight._

You dived behind a large coral nearby, hiding from its vision. You would've gone for the exit, but where you were sitting, that... **thing** would have been closer. 

" **Komatsu!** " Toriko roared, instantly noticing the threat at hand.

"Eh-?"

"(Y/n)-san! Getaway!" Coco ordered, not noticing that you had already taken his advice. 

Your hands clumsily prided open your knife pouch in your panic, preparing for a violent encounter. 

You were **way** too tired to deal with this. Spending hours navigating a cave, swimming and hunting for an hour, then preparing an incredibly difficult ingredient. 

Holding your breath, you heightened your hearing, desperate to gain some insight into the situation from your position. 

The sound of sand crunching gradually faded away, indicating it was safe now. Even so, you held your knife tightly when peeking back over. 

"Wha- What was that?!" Toriko questioned, as you approached. 

_No change in the area, no injuries on anyone. It just left us alone? Without doing anything? Absolutely nothing?!_

"I don’t know... I first saw the electromagnetic waves, and it was an ominous, bad feeling..." Coco answered, standing back up. "Those footprints, they weren’t here before, in other words,"

"It came from the sea!" Toriko finished, "but what living creature could-"

Logic came back into your panicked head, finally bringing some reassurance to your mind.

And also a deeper fear from the understanding.

"It wasn’t a living creature." You breathed out. 

The conversation continued for a few more minutes, but they seemed reluctant to discuss it in too much detail. 

You put your knife back in the pouch, there was no need anymore, even if your body was still pumping your heart like crazy. It's time to leave, no way are you involving yourself in any more potential danger. 

"Keep the rest of the whales, I think I’m going home now." You slung your bag and massive thermos around your neck, "bye, it was nice meeting you guys." You ended quietly before leaving.

The leaving was abrupt and almost uncalled-for.

"Alright, bye. Stay saf- Whah! Gone already!?" Komatsu exclaimed, seeing that his friend had disappeared into thin air. "How does she do that...?"


	3. Cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse, this took a long time for no good reason.

You smiled to yourself.

The soft sunlight flowing in, the sweet smell of cakes and flowers filling the air, the sounds of talking was not too loud, but not quiet enough for there to be awkwardly silent.

Yeah, this was a good place to eat. 

Sitting at the table, you took out your camera to take pictures of the desserts you ordered. Typically, you would try to avoid talking to people at all costs, but there are a few things that override your avoidance. 

In this instance, there were two things: food, and learning.

How?

Arrangement ideas for dishes. Maybe you could learn something from this place you could apply, some of your food at the cafe was lacking some visual appeal in your opinion. 

You picked up your fork and smiled down at the food excitedly, your legs practically bouncing.

Well, time to eat. 

-

Sighing quietly, you placed down your fork. 

Well, that was disappointing. 

The taste of the food is... How should you put it nicely... Ah yes. 

Very mediocre compared to their appearance. 

_Is this how my mum felt when she had my brother?_

No, that's a tad mean. Well, at least there's a reason why you think the items was kinda average.

The cake's cream was too stiff and the batter was a tad too dry for your taste. Whereas the crepe mille was too wet, retaining too much moisture, ruining the cream and layers. And the rest of them were just lacking any... Taste? Inspiration? I think that's accurate.

But damn, did it look nice.

It seems like none of the other customers noticed the subtle mistakes, it makes sense. Not everyone had to spend hours in school tasting food, seeing if it was acceptable, pointing out was and bad about it and got shouted at if they got it wrong.

Yeah, Culinary school was a nightmare dressed like a daydream. You'd never regret it though. It was kinda fun.

Back on topic. 

To be honest, it wasn't bad, per se. But you wouldn't come here again. Being hyper-aware of every little mistake kinda ruins the experience. 

It's a shame, this **could** have been a good place to visit every so often. However, you couldn't ignore the mistakes when you felt that you could have made it so much better. And telling them to their face is out of the question, maybe you can just leave some critique if you leave a review online. They do have potential...

Yeah, that's not a bad idea... If they take your advice, then you could add this place to the list of places you can visit. 

**"Kyaaa~~!"**

The shrill shriek almost startled you enough to fall out of your chair. You quickly flailed your arms, reaching for a stable gripping on the table then covered your face in your hands from embarrassment, praying no one saw that.

_What the heck was that?_

You quickly turned to the source of the sound after recovering, looking outside the window, finding something that resembled an avalanche of humans. 

_Yikes, that's a big crowd..._

From your position, you couldn't see what was happening in the crowd, just hearing the over-excited cheers and muttering of the circular wall of people. It wasn't anything you haven't seen before, and it wasn't anything worth noting. But god, you hadn't seen anything like this for a while.

Sighing, you sadly turned back to your meal, finishing it off. As much as you think the food isn't that good, it's not worth chucking in the bin. It's still worth **something**.

"Whuh-oh, is it happening again?" Someone behind you said loudly with a snicker.

You dropped your fork loudly onto the plate in shock. 

_Again?! How often does this happen?_

Your face flushed, scared that you've disturbed someone eating with your loud spoon. Looking around, no one noticed. 

"Ugh... Poor Coco-sama..." A waitress says, looking out the window.

_Huh? Coco? Sounds familiar..._

You held the spoon to your mouth in thought, trying to member how you knew it before snapping your fingers. 

_Oh, he's that man who knew how to cut the puffer whale!_

"What do you mean 'PoOr CoCo-SaMa'? I would kill to have that many people to like me!" Her co-worker says, his face flushing red in jealously as he threw down his towel on the mahogany table.

_I would kill **not** to be that popular... Being royalty is hard, huh, Coco?_

The more you looked at the scene, the more you nauseous you felt. Imagine being you in that position. You would cry. While you couldn't make out the exact words, you could imagine what being squealed out. Watching him get crowed by women reminded you of some snakes mating. 

Oh well, if he likes that sort of stuff, then he can let them continue. It's his life I guess. You didn't strike him as one of those people, but what do you know?

"Nah, I do feel bad for him."

_Why?_

"Yeah, I forget he doesn't really like the attention."

_He doesn't?_

You continued staring at the sight with a blank stare for a moment.

_Imagine being you in that position._

You sighed heavily, wanting to bang your head against the table in frustration.

Alright, you couldn't watch this anymore. You're stopping this dogpile. Coco is clearly struggling to hold them back or shoo them away. 

You quickly placed the money on the table and thanked the person at the counter, leaving the place. 

Yeah, you probably weren't strong enough to hold or shoo off a mob of women, but there are other ways to get rid of people instead of brute force or talking. 

-

A loud alarm rang out in the town, scaring everyone of the danger about arriving. Was it a fire? An earthquake? 

No. 

A wild beast. 

Everyone swiftly closed their doors to their buildings or running back inside to the safety of their homes. The mob quickly scurried for their lives, leaving the man to himself outside. 

He sighed in relief, normally he wouldn't linger around town after work, but he wanted to check out the new stores in town. It's strange though, the alarm shouldn't have gone off today, there weren't any migrations of beasts happening and any stray beasts arrivals should have been predicted by a fortune-teller beforehand.

No matter, there's always an exception to the rules. Perhaps there's a stray beast that no one found beforehand and only did now. It's rare, but it's believable. 

When the crowd left, he wasn't able to see the danger of the beast, typically they ran straight towards him then run away from his position. That's strange.

He continued walking down the street, was it a false alarm? Was it a drill? There's no danger-

Oh. 

Nevermind, there is danger.

A gathering of men wearing black formal clothes was a good few meters away from him. They looked like businessmen, it isn't that uncommon for well-known businessmen Well, on the surface. 

He didn't like how their electromagnetic waves were pointed and sharper than the average person. How could he not have noticed them before?

While they didn't seem to be doing anything right now, they were definitely planning something, even if he couldn't quite figure it out in this current moment. It was strange, it was more cloudly, masked, making it harder him to read their intentions. 

One of them turned their head over to him, then uttered something to the other men, gaining their attention. They started closing the distance, which Coco responded by gripping the end of his green bandage, preparing to take it off in case of a worst-case scenario. He didn't like using his poison so close to people's homes, but he also didn't like the idea of being a step behind in a fight.

"Heavenly King Coco." The 'Leader' addressed, as he took a further step towards him than the others. There wasn't anything distant about his appearance, but there was an air of authority about him. 

"Yes?" His eyes racked his appearance, locating each weapon they have on hand. 1-3 on each person. Most were concealed underneath their clothes. 

"That is the 'Wild Beast' alarm, correct?" He asked, while one of their lackeys was holding a notebook, seemingly writing something down constantly. He was the only one who didn't seem to have a lethal weapon on hand. Though there was no doubt in his head that 

"It is, why are you asking?" He couldn't think of the possible scenarios why could have been asking. Were they doing to break the alarm somehow so they would no longer be alerted when there was a beast? But that wouldn't benefit them in any way.

"Doesn't matter why we're asking." One of them snapped before being shushed by another.

The 'Leader' didn't even acknowledge them and continued talking. "Does the alarm allow you to to be able to locate the creature?" 

The gears in his head clicked, figuring out their objective. "No." He answers, rewrapping the green bands. There was no danger. 

Yet.

"I see. Thank you for your time." He then turns to his group and starts walking away from him. Coco glared at the sight of them leaving as a bitter taste formed in his mouth. 

-

You walked down the street, happy with your results. That was easier than you expected. There was a spring in your step, and you spun happily in your bliss, accidentally knocking into someone. 

"Whoa-"

You fell to the ground, catching yourself before eating dirt. "Oh! I'm so sorry-" You started, picking up your notebooks that had flung out of your bag (which you stupidly forgot to close in a rush leaving the restaurant).

"Fuck sakes." They loudly shouted. "Watch where you're going!"

_You little-_

You held your tongue back, wanting to snap back at him. Sure, you might have knocked into him, but you were clearly the one that was more affected by the collision. Falling over, dropping all their stuff, while they weren't even visibly affected. 

_Whatever. But if I ever encounter you again I'm taking your shoes so you'll walk barefoot._

You were occupied with picking up the fallen items. They didn't give you another word and continued walking down the path. 

_Is that a funeral group? Why are they all wearing the same black suits?_

Well, no need to pay them any more attention, you have other stuff to do. Picking up the last notebook, you paused, not recognising it.

Well, that's strange.

It didn't look like one of yours, it looked more clean and professional, whereas yours is... well, let's just say that it is **very** well used. 

Is it from the people from before?

You considered opening the book to read the contents, but that felt too invasive for your taste. After all, if someone found your notebook, you didn't want to even touch it, just to tell you that you found it. Ah, but you can't hand it back to them, that would mean more talking...

You quietly weighed the options in your head while putting the book inside your bag for safe-keeping. Those peoples were assholes, and quite frankly, you didn't want to talk to them.

Well, there's one sure-fire way to make sure people don't talk to you...

-

You returned walking down the street, recognising a familiar figure in front of you. 

"(Y/n)-san?" A voice called out, snapping you out of your thoughts.

He walks over to you looking carefully, causing you to freeze up. 

You sat there, not moving a single muscle while matching his gaze, resisting the urge to run for your dear life. He sighed to himself, putting a hand on his head. "What am I saying...? There's no way a cat could possibly be (Y/n)-san..." He says before leaving you behind. 

Oh, thank God. He brushed it off. 

You swished your tail and began to walk out of town. 


	4. Gourmet Hotel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, not much to say...? I just fell behind on work in real life and struggled to want to write. Apart from that, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

"Komatsu? Are you here? 'Matsu?" You knocked on the kitchen's doors, trying to be polite as possible. Just to be safe.

Last time you walked into a kitchen uninvited, a knife came flying at your face. Ahh, the memories. 

A muffled voice answered you, "come in!"

"Komatsu? What cha doing in here?" You entered the kitchen, confirming that it was only him in the room. "Are you still cooking? It's past hours now, are you preparing for tomorrow? Don't you do that in the morning? Have you been getting enough sleep lately?" 

The counter was covered with papers in some sort of organised fashion, but it was clear that that it was slowly becoming more messy. Thankfully, it seems likt the majority of them is finished. 

He waved his hands in front of himself while rubbing the back of his neck. "Don't worry, don't worry! I'm just finishing up, y'know?" His eyes flicked to the door, "how did you get in? Isn't the doors locked?"

"I flew in the window."

"Hahah, that's funny." He let out a small laugh, with you joining in. 

"Heheh... Yeah, I guess." You cleared your throat. "What are you doing? Are they getting you to do the papers now?"

"No, I brought this upon myself..."

"...Okay, what did you want me to do again?" 

"Oh, yeah. I wanted you..." He walks away from the counter and takes something out of the fridge. "...To taste these!"

You looked at the dishes he brought out. "Sure, hand it over." You took out a fork from one of the drawers and spun it in your fingers. "Oh crap-" It almost slips from your hand, thankfully you catch it. "...I'm losing my grip on the world."

"I agree," he smiled brightly at your clumsiness, "here." He places it down in front of you.

"Thank you, I will think of you as I consume this dish, my good sir." You jest.

Snickering slightly, he played along, "Thank you for your kind words. I could not be more grateful for your critique." 

"Okay, okay. No need for flattery." He rolls his eyes at your response, sitting back down. You took a bite of the food, savouring it. 

_Huh...?_

_This doesn't taste like Komatsu's usual dishes...?_

Komatsu looked at you expectantly, "...well?" From your expression, he can imagine that it didn't wow you at least. 

"Do you want me to critique as a chef or as a friend?"

"That doesn't sound good."

"You haven’t even heard what I have to say yet."

"A chef please." He starts writing something down, but you don't notice and continue to eat the food. 

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's not my first time receiving brutal honesty." He looks downwards at the counter, "Sensei was terrifying..." 

"Yeah, she was..." The two of you sat in silence, thinking about your own culinary schools respectively. 

"Let's not think about that anymore, I'm going to get nightmares." 

"You're right. Okay." Gathering your thoughts, you slowly articulated them. "Overall, it's good. The taste is great. As always."

"Uhuh..."

"Nice execution, but it's a bit confusing...? If you get me? It's like trying to be sharp, but it's rather soft. Y’know...?" 

His face shifted into concern, "Is that so...?"

Sighing, you continued, "are you trying something new...? It's great to experiment! Don't get me wrong, it's one of my favourite things. However, it doesn't feel like your dish anymore, y'know? You’re always so consistent did something happen?" 

"I knew it..." He sighed heavily burying his hands into his hair.

"...Are you in a slump?"

"No, I'm not in a slump, I'm just confused." His voice now muffled in his hands.

"Alright, if you say so..." Continuing to eat, you thought harder over the problem. The taste reminds you of someone. "...Could you possibly be influenced by something?"

"Like you always are?"

"Oi."

"I know you're trying to help, but I don't understand..." Raising his head, he looks up at you. "Can you expla-"

This time a loud voice outside the kitchen interrupted him, "Heyyy! Komatsu!"

Both of you turned your heads over to the door, "...Is one of your chefs looking for you?" You asked, taking another bite of the food. It was confusing, but it was still good.

"That's strange, did they leave something here?" He walked over to the sound, poking his head out the door. "Hello? Is someone looking for me?"

While eating the dish, you unintentionally listened into their conversation. Their voices were muffled through the door but it was still clear enough to be able to understand.

"Oh, Komatsu-kun! There you are!" I brought some corn and I invited Coco too!" The same voice answered back.

You nearly spat out the food at the mention of Coco. 

_Doesn't that mean... The person speaking is Toriko? The person with blue hair?_

"You didn't invite me, you walked into my house and took me here against my will." Another voice piped up and you reached for one of the papers on the counter. 

A laugh. "That's an exaggeration, if you wanted to, you could leave now."

"No. That’s wrong. Kiss isn't here, so I have to rely on you to take me back. I don't even have my wallet with me to take some transport. I’m stuck here until you bring me back home."

_...What is happening outside?_

"Toriko-san, Coco-san, why are you here? I mean I'm happy, but I don't really understand..."

"Oh, right. I brought corn! You want some?"

"...Why would I want- Oh my God! BB-corn!" You heard a loud cheer, and your ears perked up at the mention of the corn.

_...Blue blood corn? From Wul Jungle?_

You heard more muffled talking before Komatsu walked back in with some corn, smiling ear to ear. 

"I see it wasn't your staff..."

"Toriko-san brought BB-corn over!" There was practically stars in his eyes at this point as he held the massive popcorn in his hands. "I was wondering why he wasn't responding to me after a few days!"

"That's nice, I wrote down what I thought about your food while you were talking." You said, putting the plate in the sink. 

"Oh, thank you. But, uh, your handwriting is unreadable..." He says, lifting it up. "Oh, you can actually read it this time."

"Yep, I only use that handwriting for my own stuff. I don't want people to be able to read my stuff." You began picking up the bag you left on the floor.

"Eh? Where are you going?" He asked as you walked over to the other exit.

"Aren't you going to talk to Coco-san and Toriko-san?" You asked, pausing your steps.

"I am, but that doesn't answer my question...?" The cogs in his head started to turn, "are you leaving because Toriko-san and Coco-san is here?"

"Maybe," you let out a deep sigh as Komatsu made a deadpanned face, "listen. They're your friends, not mine. I don't want to make them uncomfortable."

"Really? Because Coco-san was looking for you."

You froze in your tracks. 

"That seemed to get your attention."

"Why is he looking for me? Did I do something to him? Did I say something to him?!" You grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him frantically, "how does he know I'm here?!"

"C-calm do-own! S-stop shak-king me!" 

"Sorry, sorry..." You let go of him as he held onto the table for support.

"God... I actually feel motion sick..." He steadied himself, "he didn't know you were here, he just asked 'Is (Y/n)-san here?'."

You let out a deep sigh, "oh, good. I can still make a run for it."

"Well, not really. One, I said that you were."

"Damnit."

"And two, they must have heard all the noise we made..." He slumped over, trying to think of an explanation.

"That's for you to deal with." You straightened your back and stood proudly upright, "Now, goodbye my frien- Let go of my arm!" In a ~~poor~~ attempt to keep you there, he grabbed your limbs.

"No way! I'm not going out there to explain the noise that **we** made!" He used all of his strength he had to pull you over to the door by the arm. Which was a surprising amount.

Prying his hands off, you wrestled back with him, pushing away. "No, stop, don't drag me over-" You accidentally knocked over something on the table and it fell with a loud 'clack'. 

"Yo, Komatsu-kun? Are you okay in there?"

The both of you stopped the mini wrestling competition, recognising it as Toriko's voice. "Uh, yeah! I'm fine! Just give me a second!" He shouted back then looked back at you, "are you going to join me?"

You made a noise of discomfort.

He exhaled heavily, already knowing your answer. "Y'know, they don't bite."

"Are you sure? Not to judge by appearance, but Toriko seems like he does." You argued back, the two of you stopping the childish wrestling. 

"Well... He won't bite you...?"

You thought for a second before sighing quietly, you nodded your head. "Alright then. I'll join you." You said with a heavy sigh. 

He blinked in surprise, his face breaking out into a smile. "You will?"

"Sure, I will."

"Oh! Good, good!" He clapped his hands together, "I'll be out in a second, I just need to prepare the BB-corn and I'll be out." He walks away from you, or should you say skipped away from you. "Go out and say hi to them while I finish, I'll be out in a second!"

"Ngh, okay..."

The moment you walked out you greatly regretted your decision.

It wasn't the fact they were unfriendly. No, no, no. It was the fact they were **too** friendly. Toriko greeted you happily and started asking lots of questions, whereas Coco offered you to sit next to him and mostly just listened into the conversation, chipping occasionally. 

_Is this some sort of trap?_

"(Y/n)-chan! You're a chef, right? Where do you work?" He asked after a dozen other questions you weren’t able to answer.

"Oh, you know just some cafe. What do you do? Are you two full-time Bishokuyas?"

"Yep. Coco isn't though."

You recalled his words from the Puffer Whale Cave. _"My past job was a Bishokuya."_

"What do you do instead then?"

"I mostly work as a fortune teller. Though, now I do some small hunts when I have free time."

"...Then why don't you do hunting as a job? You seemed quite good at it?"

"I’m done with the corn! But to be fair it didn’t really need any cooking, to begin with." Komatsu said, walking out of the kitchen.

You didn't get an answer from Coco as Komatsu came back out with the corn, changing the conversation, as the attention shifted over to him. 

Well, mostly.

"So, how did you guys meet?" Toriko asked while eagerly cutting into the corn.

_What are we, a couple?_

"Oh, that's kind of a strange story..." Komatsu answered, thinking about it. "(Y/n)-chan, you wanna take this?"

Your eyes skimmed over to him as you fiddled with your fork. "It's a bit hard to explain..."

"Hah, yeah. It is a bit weird..." Komatsu said, scratching the back of his head. 

~~~

The first bell had already rung ages ago, and showing up late isn't a very good look for the him. 

He squinted his eyes, not believing the sight in front of him as he grew closer to the gates.

_Whywhywhy-_

He panted heavily as he arrived at the gate, slowing down his pace.

_Why is it locked...?! It's never closed this early!_

He supported himself against the cold metal bars of the towering gate as he regained his breath heaving loudly.

_Oh god... What is sensei going to say about this..._

He slumped against the gate, it wouldn't open back up until noon unless he calls for someone to open it. And his friends won't be able to come until their break time. Even if he was to call the school office, the most likely scenario was that they wouldn’t be able to do anything. 

Slumping against the gate, he closed his eye, steadying his breathing and regretting working so hard the day before.

_If I beg for mercy I might be spared my scholarship..._

"Uhm... Excuse me...?"

He turned to his right and saw someone around his age wearing a blue bag. They looked like a girl, but they could have passed as either sex, or maybe it was just his tired eyes. Strangely enough, he didn’t recognise them as one of his classmates. Maybe it was one of the other years?

They cleared their voice quietly, "I need to..." They looked down at their shoes and motioned him to move to the side as politely as possible.

"Oh, s-sorry..." He replied, shuffling out of the way. 

They stared at the gate, shaking it slightly, testing the strength of it. It had thick metal bars, and it seemed to be around 2 to 3 meters tall. 

"The door won't open for a while unless you can call the office. But even then, there's no guarantee that they..." While he was talking, they took a couple of steps back then ran up to the gate, "what are you-" Jumping up, they grabbed hold of the top and swung themselves over. 

Ah.

Their land was slightly shaky and they dusted some dirt they scraped from the top of the gate off of their hands but didn't seem to be affected at all. Looking back at his shocked face, they asked: "do you need to get over too?" 

He snapped out his momentarily surprise. "Um, yeah... But I don't think I can do what you did..." He nervously laughed, the person nodded in response and placed their bag gently on the ground before climbing back over. This time a lot more sloppily.

He watched them attempt to land on the ground softly but failing badly, as their legs buckled under them and fell face flat into the ground. Apparently, the landing before was the best they can do. 

"A-are you okay?!"

"Mhm... I'm okay." Picking yourself back up, he noticed the faint eye bags under their warm eyes and the bed hair.

_Ah, they were probably working hard yesterday as well..._

"Anyways..." They put a hand up to their chin, "why did I come over this side again...?"

_Seriously?_

"Uhm..." Yeah, this person definitely needed some sleep. A lot more than him. "Because I need to get over the gate and you offered to help me..?"

"Oh... Okay..." They stood back up and put a hand to their head. "Uhmm..."

He stared at them as they blinked sleepily. "Are sure you're okay?"

"I'm just a bit tired." _A bit?_ They walked over to him, "please land safely." They say while effortlessly picking him up.

"Wha-"

_Whoawhoawhoa-_

He clung onto their arms for support, "what do you mean 'land safely'?! Why are you picking me up-"

That day was hopefully the first time and last time he got throw over a gate like a sack of potatoes. Sadly, he didn't listen to their words. As he fell on his face.

~~~

Toriko bursted out laughing at the anecdote while Coco looked stunned.

"I said I’m sorry..."

"How can you be sorry about something you don’t even remember?"

"You forgot about that?" Coco asked, looking at confused at you. "Just how tired were you?!"

"I'm not sure... I always think that we met in the competition." You stated, covering your embarrassment.

"Yeah... You looked like you needed some good rest, it was probably just because you were tired." He answered back and you nodded, muttering something along the lines of 'yeah, that sounds like me'. 

"What competition?" Toriko asked, seeming interested. 

"The two of you went to the same school?" Coco asked, looking at you for the answer, which you shook your head in response. 

_Why is he asking me and not Komatsu...?_

"Do you want me to tell you about the competition as well?"

"Yeah, let’s have it!" Toriko said while Coco nodded.

"Oh, alright..."

~~~

"Komatsu."

He gulped as his teacher glared him down.

"Do you realise how late you are?" She slammed her hands onto the wooden table.

"...one hour-"

"Did I ask you to answer me?" She growled out.

_Yikes, she must be in a bad mood today..._

"You're lucky I'm feeling nice, I'm letting you off with a warning." She sighed, walking away from him. 

"Th-thank you..."

"You have 3 minutes to get ready. Your classmates had spent this time practising, you lost that time to showing up late. The other school is already here, and we can’t have anyone missing." She got up and opened the exit door, leaving him standing there. 

The door closed with a click, and he let out a deep breath. 

_Never, ever, again. That was terrifying._

He scrambled out of the room into the lockers. Three minutes will just be enough time to get ready.

-

The kitchen was buzzing with excitement and anxiousness when he entered the room, many people talking about the competition happening today. However, a few seemed to be muttering to each other about it with clear distaste on their faces. 

He quickly found his friends standing next to each other, they waved him over and he quickly joined them.

"Koma-chan! Why are you so late?" Nakaume asked while he was partially sitting on the counter.

"Today's the worst day to be late as well," Ootake stated, glancing over to him with his arms crossed. 

He rubbed the back of his head, "I know, I know..." 

"Well, whatever. You've here now," Ootake looked up at the front of the room, "the other school arrived already. I think it should start soon."

"Oh, the contest-" Nakaume was cut off.

"Alright! Listen up." The teacher clapped her hands loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "I've told you this before, but I'll tell you again. Every so often, there is a small tournament between our school and Bluebell Academy. This is to compare your progress to other schools."

Someone behind him stuck their hand up, "what's the point?"

"If you actually had a working brain, you'd know." The class 'oohh' at that, making them slink their hand back down. "It's not just to compare your progress, it's also to learn the techniques of your fellow chefs. But remember, this **is war**. I expect you **all** to win."

Komatsu felt his hand began to sweat, a competition. A cooking competition. _Yeah, this will be fine. I can do this, I just need to remember what I learned. This is fine._

"You will be judged on taste, presentation, preparation, and theme." She started writing on the whiteboard on the wall. "It will be 1 vs 1, you will be able to ask for help, but we are not required to help you out during this time. Instead, it is expected for you to ask the enemy." Her nose scrunched in disgust, "but obviously, they don't have to help you. You don't have to help them." She finished, dropping the pen onto the table after writing down the rules.

His classmates looked at each other in unease, the excitement now dying down. Bluebell had a strange reputation. On one hand, they produce very skilled chefs, but on the other hand, a lot of them often were... shady to say the least. One of the most famous (or infamous) chefs were cooking in Jidar Kingdom. Not to mention the stories he heard about them was rather scary. Though, some did sound too strange to be real.

He didn't think that they really true because if they were, their school wouldn't be associated with them, right?

"Don't worry. Just do your best. They're nothing compared to you guys." She said and the class made faces of confusion, it wasn't often that she was even nice to them. 

There was a single knock on the door and was followed by a little rhythm. "Damn it, he's as punctual as always." She growled to herself. 

She stomped over to the door and opened it. "You can come in, if you aren't afraid of losing."

"Sensei~ Don't be so mean." The teacher from the other school (he presumed) answered back, giving her a cheeky smile. "You're setting your kids up for failure. " Their smile suddenly seemed much more sinister. "I can't wait to destroy you."

"Shut your trap."

"You never change do you?" He laughed back, and waved behind him, "kids, you can come in now. Don't worry, the other sensei won't bite you. Only me."

_...The other teacher is kinda weird. But they seem to know each other well?_

Komatsu went on his tip-toes, trying to get a good view of his competition as his classmates started gathering around them.

They look... well, normal considering the stories surrounding them. 

His eyes scanned all of them over the tops of his classmates’ heads, they all didn't seem to be as nervous as his class. Most of them even seem calm or excited. His eyes locked with a blonde girl's eyes, and his heart seemed to stop as she waved at him. A love-struck smile crept onto his face, he slowly waved back at her as she giggled to herself. She was carrying a large bundle of folded cloth, for some strange reason.

"Koma-chan, who are you looking at?"

"H-huh?! No one!"

The two teachers began to group their students together into pairs all while bickering with each other. It seemed like they would pick two people and they would go off into a pair and leave the room.

"Komatsu!"

He jumped up at the mention of his name. "Y-yes, Sensei?" He looked up at his teacher. 

"Get up here." His classmates parted for him, feeling nervous for the poor boy. He stood next to his teacher as they placed a hand on his shoulder. "This is my top student. Pick someone to lose against him."

 _T-top student?! Oh, I did get the highest result in the latest practical test from my class.._.

"Your top student...? Alright then." He could feel his piercing gaze on him, he shifted his posture uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. "I'll use my Ace too then. Oi, get up here!" 

There was a quiet shuffling of shoes before he heard his teacher talk again. "You're going up against hiim. Think you can do it?"

He lifted his eyes up, seeing the same person they saw this morning. 

You stared back at him, your warm eyes suddenly turned ice-cold and calculating. The tiredness you showed earlier was far gone as you seemed to be much sharper. 

He felt a push behind his back. "Go on, shake your opponent's hand." 

Stepping forward, he didn't break eye contact with you. "My name is Komatsu..." He introduces and reaches for your hand, feeling small scars running across it. 

You seemed to pull away from his touch at first and then shook it reluctantly. "...Kelpie."

_K-kelpie?! Is that your name?! What kind of name is that?!_

"You two will go to room 7, Komatsu, show them the way." At that, you yanked your hand back and held it close to you. 

"O-okay!" He turned back behind him one last time, trying to find his two friends for reassurance. The two of them waved and give him a thumbs up in reassurance. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to you. "Uh, follow me...?" You nodded back at him without another word. 

The walk over was deathly quiet, even when arriving, you still didn't say a word.

The room was even cleaner than usual, and there was two boxes on the table, one for each. Inside was a piece of paper with the theme, cooking utensils, and ingredients. The two of you grabbed one and went off to your separate tables, not saying a word to one another. 

_Gosh... This is awkward..._

"Uhm." He started, "is that your real name, or..."

You blinked at him blankly, then turned your attention back down at the metal bowl you were holding, no longer facing him. 

_Crap, was that insensitive of me to ask?_

You answered back after a while, "no..." The sound of boiling water filled his ears after that response, letting him know that you went back to cooking whatever you were making.

"C-can I ask why you use it then, or...?"

"I... I didn't choose it." You muttered out. 

"...Sorry? I didn't quite hear? Could you-"

"I didn't choose it," you repeated it louder, your tone rather harsh. Your face grew pale, looking upwards in horror. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude-"

"No, no. It's fine!"

You looked down guiltily and didn't say anything in response.

_Ugh... This feels like dismantling a bomb... First, they’re a bit strange but nice enough to help me, then they seem like they would kill be without a second glance and now it’s a mix of the two..._

He looked back up at them, wanting to try again.

"Uh, so... What's your real name?" He started awkwardly.

You replied. "...It's (Y/n)."

"Should I call you that?"

"...If you want." You answer back quietly. "Should I call you Komatsu-san?" A wide smile spread onto his face as you looked downwards bashfully.

"You can if you want!"

~~~

"Well, that's about it." Komatsu ended, and you nodded in response. 

_Yeah, that sounds accurate._

Toriko started asking Komatsu about what food he cooked in school (of course he did), while Coco turned his attention on you. "That's interesting, so Komatsu studied at Nakaume Gourmet School, and you studied at Bluebell Academy?"

You hummed in response, chewing the BB-corn happily. 

"How was it? It's one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world. Right behind Nakaume Gourmet School."

"It was..." You thought about the right words to use, "an experience." Coco chuckled at your response.

"is that so..."

"I only went there because it's the only cooking school that doesn't require a background check." You added quickly. 

"I-I'm sorry? Could you repeat that?" He blinked in confusion, his hand stopped in the middle of cutting his corn. 

You let out a loud laugh, "I'm joking." You smiled brightly at him, seeing that he let out a breath in relief. "How did you guys meet? You and Toriko."

"Oh, that's simple. We're brothers." You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion, something he noticed right away. "Adopted brothers."

"Ahh, makes more sense."

"Just out of curiosity, how did you get the nickname Kelpie?"

"Oh, that." You thought to yourself. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's because nobody knew my name and I guess that nobody bothered to ask me for it."

"That sounds a bit lonely..." He interjected. 

"Oh, no! It's okay! I wasn't really lonely, there were a few people I talked to and I was too busy to even be lonely-" you stopped, not really sure where you were taking this. "Wait, that doesn't answer your question..." You whined, face-palming.

"No, it's fine. I don't mind."

You coughed, trying to clear your embarrassment. "So anyway, when I caught a Kelpie at the school lake, everyone just started calling me that. I assume it's because they didn't know anything else about me."

"Really?" You nodded in response. "They have a fairly high capture level, it's quite impressive of you to do that." He complimented. 

_Dear God, why am I blushing?_

You looked past Coco, trying to stop blushing. Because of this, you noticed the way Toriko was eating. "Uh..."

He followed your gaze then let out a sigh. "He usually eats that way. Do you not remember that he ate the same way in the puffer whale cave?"

"I don't really remember..." You reply, your blush fully gone, and lowered your voice, turning your head to Coco. "Is he even chewing...?"

"I believe so, but no one really knows." He replies in a serious tone. There was a slight twitch in the corners of his mouth, indicating that he was joking.

"I see... One of the biggest mysteries in the world." You joked back, taking a bite of the corn then stupidly smiled to yourself. 

_It feels easy talking to him..?_

You looked up at him curiously, still chewing. 

"Is something on my face?"

"Ah, no... It's nothing..." You turned back away. 

_I wonder why?_

A quiet rustle from your bag alerted you. 

_Shit, I completely forgot about Fluffy!_

You let out a sigh of disappointment, making Coco look back at you. "Is something wrong?"

Waving you hand, dismissively, "ah, it's nothing..." You gave him a sheepish smile in a poor attempt to reassure him before glancing down at your bag. 

_Should I...?_

You paused, subtly looking at him from the corner of your eye, thinking carefully. 

_He won't do anything... Right? I can show Fluffy to Coco, right?_

You sighed to yourself, _no, no, no. Think about what happened last time!_ You internally scolded and shook your head furiously, making Coco look at you strangely.

"A-are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes. I'm okay..." Burying your face into your hand, your words became muffled. "Also about what you said earlier, it's not that impressive. It was still young, so it was fairly easy to do."

"Then how did you do it? Even when they're younger, they're still a force to be reckoned with." He asks, with a serious undertone that you didn't notice. 

Your face lit up, taking your face back out of your hands. "It's simple! You see, young Kelpies struggle to self regulate their temperature because of the fact that their bodies haven't started-" You cut yourself off, your face heating back up again. "S-sorry, I'm rambling. So anyway, I lured it into the school freezers and it froze up." You muttered, avoiding his eye contact. 

"I see. Then why did you choose to catch one? It doesn't seem worth the trouble, they aren't really edible."

"I didn't catch one to eat them!" You gripped your bag defensively, and he instantly caught onto your vocal tone, making him blink in confusion. Your voice got a fraction louder. "There were rumours that they attacked students that got too close to the lake. And if they were going to-" 

_Calm down._ A voice echoed in your head.

"...I'm sorry. I'm sure you didn't mean anything by that." You breathed, brushing your hair back. "I did it because... I'm not sure." You nervously laughed.

"I see... I'm sorry if I said anything insensitive."

"No... Not your fault." You stayed quiet after that, feeling the tension you created. _It was going so well! Idiot! Idiot! You just had to ruin it didn't you!_

"(Y/n)-chan!" Toriko interrupted, "do you wanna join us?" You suddenly felt so grateful that there were other people here too.

"Uh, join you for...?"

"Me and Toriko-san are going to Gourmet Town! Do you wanna come?" Komatsu answered, his eyes sparkling in excitement. "Oh! I need to take out money! Then I need to- I should make a list of things to do-" He rambled to himself, running off into the kitchen. 

"Gourmet Town..." You thought for a second.

You have been wanting to visit for a while, but never got around to going. Not to mention you've not really got any good ideas recently, so it'll be a good place to get inspiration. 

You hummed to yourself, crossing your arms. "Sure...? When?"

"Tomorrow afternoon, can you make it?" Toriko answered, finishing off his cigarette. Or... branch? How should you describe it? Stick?

You thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah, I'll close shop."

"Yeah, there's someone you'd probably want to meet."

"Coco, are you coming?" Toriko asked. 

"No, I'll be busy with reading fortunes."

"Well, that's a shame, if you change your mind, you're welcome to join us!" Toriko said, downing a whole bottle of alcohol. 

You checked the time, noticing how late it had gotten. Picking up your bag, you tried to sneak away without them noticing. Which was a fail.

"Oh, (Y/n)-san, before you go, I need to tell you something..." Coco said, turning to face you slightly. 

"Uh, okay... What's up?"

"I need to tell you that ringing the wild beast alarm isn't allowed."

"Eh?"

"That's all I have to say, have a nice time at Gourmet Town." He says smiling, then turned back to talk to Toriko, leaving you awkwardly walking away with his words stuck in his head.

...

_How the fuck did he find out?_


	5. Setsuno's Dining Hall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm reading the (unofficial) translated version of Toriko and I'm not too sure what they say at some parts, it'll probably be a bit inaccurate at some parts. Sorry.

The crowd bustled around you and buzzed with excitement as they all rushed around the place, reminding you of a bee's nest. The smell of food wafted through the windows, enticing people to come into the stores.

Yes, you were in Gourmet Town. Yes, you were standing awkwardly with no one else with you. Yes, you had arrived earlier than both of the people you made these plans with. Yes, you had mixed feelings about this place.

It’s not that you didn’t like the town, no, as a chef you found it to be an amazing place. The new ideas in the air, creativity oozing from the menus and the delicious dishes that are created there was absolutely amazing, to say the least.

But as an awkward person and a fear of social embarrassment, it wasn't exactly helping you with those fears. It's fine. You told yourself. If you don't embarrass yourself, it'll be alright.

You were sitting on the outskirts of the town where few people were walking around. Plenty of space to walk/run away from them if needed. So it wasn't that bad yet.

Now…

What should you do to kill time?

The two of them would probably take a little time to get here, so you had a few free hours.

Eat some food? Maybe, but your wallet will be crying at the end of today if you did. Look around the place? Not a bad idea, but you might get lost. Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained?

You walked around the place, it was mostly restaurants and occasionally a shop. The restaurants were nice, but every place you went to felt like something was missing. Not from the decorations (not that you'd know anything about that), but from the food. Turns out, lots for the places handed out free samples, so you didn't need to spend any money. Even better, they just left them out on the tables outside, so you didn't even have to talk to anyone.

Anyways, there was something missing. Like a misplaced display from a museum, or a slightly different shade from the pallet they’re using from the rest of a painting.

You sighed to yourself quietly and tried to think of what was missing. A spice? No, there was plenty. An ingredient? No, any more would ruin the balance. Preparation? No? It seemed fine? 

You inhaled deeply and a blurry image of the dish started coming to mind, slowly becoming clearer before someone bumped into you.

"Oh! I’m so sorry-" you quickly sputtered out, realising that you must have been blocking the way for other people.

It was an old lady, who was now currently laughing. At you.

_Of course, she is. Why did I think it was a good idea to walk around? I should've just stayed still and waited._

"Now, now. Why are you apologising? I’m the one who bumped into you."

"It was probably my fault! I must have been blocking the-"

"You're so different from your mother, you know that?" She cut you off, not wanting to listen anymore.

_...What?_

"She’s so rude compared to you. You need to be more assertive if you want people to hear you."

"...My mother?" You repeated. "Y-you did say that right? I’m so very sorry, but who are you?"

She chuckled at your confusion. "Ah, I met you when you were younger, but you must have not remembered. I’m Chef Setsuno, but you can call me Setsuno."

"Chef?" The name resonated with you, Setsuno, you felt like you heard of her before. "Are you a famous chef?" _If she is, Komatsu must have told me about her._

"Fuhfuhfuh, 'famous' doesn’t even begin to describe it."

_That's very confident of you..._

"Anyways, I have a reservation for my restaurant today." A crowd starting to gather around her, chattering to each other.

"Wow! It’s Chef Setsuno!"

"Oh my God, it’s a gourmet national treasure!"

"Has she finally decided to open her shop?"

"I need- I need an autograph! Does anyone have a piece of paper?!"

"I have to get a picture of her!"

_Oh, she’s **famous** famous._

"Who is she talking to?"

_Oh, no, no, no. I don't want to be remembered by people. Not today._

"Well, It was great remeeting you. I must go now. Goodbye." You say, then turned to bolt away. 

"Would you like to come? You could learn a thing or two." She offered, freezing you up on the spot.

It won’t take long to look at her kitchen, so you can still meet up with Komatsu and Toriko. Plus, it’s, very rare a chef would invite someone to their kitchen. For chefs, It's like giving a stranger the keys to your house.

"Can I? I hope I wouldn't be intruding." You wanted to see her kitchen, her working place. She must be a skilled chef, you could probably steal some techniques from her.

She waved her cane dismissively, "nonsense! I serve whoever I want to serve. Now come along, I need to pick someone up. That idiot must have forgotten the time to meet-up."

_'I serve whoever I want to serve.' Sounds like something I could get behind._

Surprisingly, she's a fast walker, you had to change your pace to match her. It made you question why she needed a walking cane if she could walk this fast without any trouble.

Both of you were silent until you spoke up, your curiosity taking charge. "So, can I ask, how do you know my mum... Is it through cooking?"

"Yes, she was an excellent chef, but she had a terrible personality." She bluntly answered. "I bet she still does have that horrible way of speaking. And existing."

_Well, yes... But, I can't really say that..._

You stayed quiet as she scrunched her nose. "She always knew how to prepare the ingredients a different way, and it pissed me off when she did it faster than me since she was so condescending about it." At those words, your mouth opened, then closed again.

_...I can see that..._

"...Alright. Then, how did you know that I was a chef?"

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, almost making you slam into her back from her sudden stop, and looked at you. "I didn’t, I guessed." She took off again and she sped up even more.

Thank God you had some stamina. Otherwise, you'd be losing your breath.

"...You guessed correctly." _There’s no way that was just guessing, there's nothing about me to suggest that I would be a chef. I'm not even that well-known here!_

"Actually, I need you to do something for me." She said in a rather serious tone, worrying you, but still accepted her request.

"Um, sure. What is it?"

"Here’s the keys to my restaurant," She shoved the keys into your hand, "I want you to replace the light bulbs in there," she then put a pack of bulbs into your other hand. "Go there without me, I need to find this idiot."

You instantly started spluttering. "Wait, what? But-" She already left.

_What?! You don’t trust someone you just met with keys to your restaurant! I mean, I guess she has met me before, but that's beside the point! I don’t even know where her restaurant is! It makes no sense for her to-_

You took multiple deep breaths before you just started panicking public. The people walking about thankfully didn't see you panicking internally or simply just ignored you.

_Okay, she’s famous, right? I can search her up and they’ll probably give me the location to her restaurant._

You pulled out your phone and searched her up, finding the restaurant easily. Along with a few 10-star reviews. Actually hundreds of 10-star reviews.

Navigating the busy area was the hard part. Not because it was hard to find the paths or the route to take, it was because you didn’t want any of these strangers to try and rope you into buying their food. 

\---

Somehow, you made it out alive.

The restaurant was unlocked, so there was no point to even give you the keys. Unfortunately, it was a bit hard to see in the dark, so you just stumbled about trying to find it until your eyes adjusted to the dark.

You sighed to yourself, putting your bag on a nearby table and stepped onto a chair to reach the ceiling. It was strange. Despite being so famous, she didn't put her restaurant closer to the centre of town. Maybe she just doesn't like the attention?

The line of thought trailed over to a certain fortune teller, remembering how he was mobbed by all of those women in Gourmet Fortune and how you had to trigger the alarm. 

_Ugh, how did he find out I did it? There were no cameras, and there's no one around when I did it._

A loud ding interrupted your thinking, it was quickly followed by multiple other dings. You opened up your phone to find Komatsu was texting you franticly

Fuck, you've completely forgotten that you were meeting up with him. You jumped off the chair and quickly read through the messages

* * *

[Chef Lâche]

-Omg

-Omg

-We’re meeting with Setsuno-sama!!

-I can’t believe that we get to eat at her restaurant!!!!

-I

-Best day of mylife

-It’s a dream come true!!!!

-Where are you?

* * *

You blinked in confusion, no way. This was a really big coincidence, it can't be true. You gotta confirm.

* * *

[You]

-Is this her?

-[Image of Setsuno]

[Chef Lâche]

-Yeah

-Did you not know?

[You]

-OK

-Yeah Im here

-I met her just now

[Chef Lâche]

-What

[You]

-I’m in her restaurant

[Chef Lâche]

-the heck

-How???

[You]

-She asked me to change her light bulb

-as you do

[Chef Lâche]

-....

-We're almost there

-Let's finish this later

* * *

Currently, you were sitting on one of the seats of her restaurant. waiting for them to arrive. While waiting, you started cleaning the place, finding a thin layer of dust on the table and floor. It seems like she hadn't been in here for a long time. It didn't take long for you to finish wiping and sweeping the floor. Of course, you didn't touch anything that she wouldn't want you to. 

At first, you thought it was a very normal looking place, it didn’t look like somewhere a world-class chef would be running. But to be fair, your restaurant doesn’t look that fancy either, so why are you judging?

Anyways, back to the point. On closer inspection, on her menu was made up of highly sought after class foods. Everything was extremely difficult to prepare or immensely dangerous to obtain. Kororo oily skin, Chunu salad, cold cobalt tuma, Kuo Ibis minced meat, the list could go on.

She is an extremely experienced chef.

The door opened, making you quickly turn around to see who it was. Relaxing when you saw that it was just your friends and Chef Setsuno. "(Y/n)-chan, I'm back! I hope replacing the lights wasn't too hard for you?" She says happily. "I see that you also cleaned the place. You shouldn't have!"

_H-how, friendly... Already addressing me as -chan..._

"It's okay, you're going to be cooking for us. It's the least I could do."

"Oh! (Y/n)-chan! Nice to see you could make it." Toriko greeted, standing next to a surprised Komatsu. It seems like he was also surprised by the appearance of the restaurant.

"Yep, somehow I found this place before you two."

"Komatsu-kun! The battle with chefs is with cooking! Besides that, nothing else matters!" Toriko says, slapping his back.

"I know... I just didn't expect it to be so... normal."

"There's no need to keep standing up like that! Please, take a seat! You're my customers now!" She stood on the other side of the counter, beckoning the other two to come to join you.

"She only cares about the quality of the food. That's old lady setsu!" Toriko shouted/whispered in Komatsu's ear whilst walking over.

* * *

**Setsuno’s Full Course Menu:**

  * Hors-D'oeuvre - Hundred Leaf Clovers, Crispy Fried Sesame Tofu
  * Soup - Consomme Magma Stew
  * Fish Dish - King Land Shark Grilled Sushi
  * Meat Dish - Ashurasaurus Roast
  * Main - ET Rice Balls
  * Salad - Grana Lettuce Caesar Salad
  * Dessert - Oasis Melon Sorbet
  * Drink - Dohham's Boiling Sake



* * *

_Holy shit._

Half of those things was thought to be a myth, clearly not. Your heart started beating harder in excitement. Just how good will the food you taste be today?

Komatsu scooted into his seat next to you while Toriko jumped on the little chair, making it shake slightly. Hm, Toriko looked a little different.

"...Toriko-san, did you get a hair cut?" You asked, tilting your head.

"A-a hair cut?!" Komatsu looked at you shocked, "do you seriously not see that his hairstyle changed completely?!"

A light bulb went off above your head. "Ah, I see it now..." Both of them gave you a deadpanned look in response. 

Setsuno laughed at you then turned to Toriko. "This time is a rare case where ya haven't reserved my "Full Course", you reserved the special menu, didn't ya, Toriko?"

"Of course I did. The 'Century Soup'."

The name rung in your ears.

_Century Soup? Is this the soup that makes everyone smile or something like that?_

You have definitely heard of it before, but the details just aren't coming to you right now.

Toriko slammed his fists down loudly in excitement ~~, effectively scaring the shit out of you and Komatsu~~. "Let's get started! From here, we aren't stopping even if there's a level 7 earthquake!"

_...You’re kidding, right?_

"Well then, I hope you enjoy the soup." She says smiling, then turned around and began to prepare ingredients.

Her hands were barely visible as they glided over the kitchen, effortlessly doing the work of multiple people while humming a tune. Every movement was so fluid, from the way she skilfully prepared the ingredients, to even the way she picked up her seasoning.

Needless to say, you became enchanted by it. The sounds of the cutting seemed to happen before you could even see it appear, the smell of the food was simply amazing in every way, and the sight was spectacular.

Soaking everything in was challenging, wanting to leave this place having learnt as much as you possibly can. After all, when will you ever meet a chef of this calibre again? though, you weren’t sure if you could really learn anything as she was moving too fast to even see her hands.

You didn't even realise that Komatsu was speaking until he nudged your elbow, causing you to flinch from his touch.

"Uh, do you want some water?" He pushed the glass over to you while you blinked at him, trying to clear the shock away.

"Oh, um, thank you..." You took the glass and drank a sip of the water.

_So light?_

You peered down at the glass with interested eyes. _What is this?_

"That's water from the aqua mountain," Toriko says, answering your unsaid question.

"From the aqua mountains? It's called 'Air Aqua', right?"

"Yep."

_In the past, only the highest ones in the monarchy would have the pleasure to drink it. It was said that people went on yearly suicidal trips to even try to get a sip of it. Even now this tradition lives on._ You remembered, thinking back to something you read before. 

"Huh... Kinda amazing how we get to drink as much as we want of this too." You took another sip of the water, then opened your thermos and poured it in. Hopefully Fluffy will appreciate it too.

"I know right?!" Komatsu exclaimed, much more excited than you. "As you expect from the Setsuno Dining Hall..." Turning his head, he looked to the menu hanging on the walls. "If I look carefully at this menu, it's all high-class ingredients..."

Toriko hummed at this, mid drink, then responded. "Old lady Setsu's Full Course is cooked with Jirou's Full Course."

_Jirou? Where have I heard that na-_

"EHHH?! Then it's the highest class of the full course in the world, isn't it?!" Setsuno started to laugh at Komatsu's outburst, making him slink back in his chair.

"Fufuufufu... It's hard to supply the ingredients for my full course. I can't serve it ordinarily, so I have to send Jiro-chan."

You briefly thought about getting a combo partner, _it would be nice to not hunt. It gets rather tiring... Though it is fun from time to time._ If you do get one, you'll need to think carefully about it. _Ah, but a lot of people probably wouldn't like your 'style' of cooking..._

"Oh! (Y/n)-chan!" Komatsu clapped his hands together. "Speaking of Full Courses, are you planning on getting one? I know it’s a bit more uncommon for chefs to have one compared to Bishokuyas, but still!"

You blinked at him owlishly, "I already have one, well it's not complete yet. How about you?"

"What?! How do I not know about this?!" He yelled out in surprise, skimming past your question.

"You just never asked..."

Toriko asked, "what are you missing?"

You paused, counting on your fingers. "Hm, 4 things? The hors d'oeuvre, Main course, dessert and the drink."

"What's in your menu, (Y/n)? Well, so far." Komatsu asked, excitement brimming from his tone.

"Really? You wanna know?" You looked at him in surprise. "Alright, but don't laugh..."

* * *

**(Y/n)'s Full Course Menu** :

  * Hors d'Oeuvre : **Undecided**
  * Soup : Blood Crab Stew
  * Fish Dish : Fanged Whale Sushi
  * Meat Dish : Snowy Manticore Grill
  * Main Course : **Undecided**
  * Salad : Lettuce Elephant’s Ears Salad
  * Dessert : **Undecided**
  * Drink : **Undecided**



* * *

Toriko smiled widely when you finished. "That sounds great! Say, make it for me sometime!"

"If you come to my cafe and make a reservation, I'll be okay with that. Though, you'll have to tell me beforehand."

"Sure! Where is it?"

"That's for you to figure out."

"...How the could I laugh at that?" Komatsu muttered quietly, but you still picked up on the question.

"...My mother did when I told her..." You murmured, thinking back on the memory.

"You shouldn't listen to that damn woman," Setsuno interjected, still cooking flawlessly.

_...She really doesn't like my mum. I know she isn't the most likeable, but..._

"I mean... I guess... But..."

"Do you want some Garlic bird parent and child donburi? It’ll take a little longer till the soup is done." Setsuno offered, looking over to the pot boiling.

"Really? Then I’ll leave it up to you old lady Setsu!" Toriko answered, some drool already coming out of his mouth.

An irk mark appeared on her forehead. "Toriko, if you keep calling me old, I won’t make you any."

"Erk! I mean young lady Setsu!"

"That’s better." She nodded with a smile on her face before turning back around.

She opened a box with the garlic bird inside, already knocked, and de-feathered it in a flash. Then cut it into cube sized pieces and started grilling them. She lifted up the wooden lid and revealed the paradise rice she was cooking earlier, separating them into three bowls. She continued to cook while you watched with sharp eyes.

Surely, you would be able to learn something from this. Nope. She was still going to fast for you to process anything she did.

You decide to just live in the moment instead since you clearly won’t be able to take anything away from this.

Toriko was making a river out of their drool, and let’s be honest, it was ~~a little~~ disgusting. He looked like those koi fish in the ponds looking for food, not that you would ever tell him. 

A quiet 'kilk' made you look over to the counter, Setsuno placed the bowls of food onto it. "Here ya go, all done. Garlic Bird Parent and Child Donburi!"

"Wahh! It looks delicious! Thank you so much!"

"Thank you for the food." Oh, you were drooling now. Probably worse than Toriko.

You quickly wiped it away with your sleeve and carefully dragged the bowl over to you.

Komatsu began to mutter to himself, describing how it tasted, then turned over to the two of you. "This is superb, isn't it?! What do you guys thin-"

"Young lady Setsu, seconds! Actually, 20 more bowls!"

"This is why I always say you're so fast whenever you eat!" He scolded, "you should savour it more, like (Y/n)-" He stopped when he saw that you had finished half of the bowl, "You too?!"

You sheepishly smiled at him, but continued to eat "sorry..."

He sighed. "How about we enjoy the flavours more slowly... Such delicious cooking... What's more, this parent-child donburi, it has a bit of a sesame chestnut smell." He stated, which it did! It was incredibly subtle but it was definitely there.

"Hou! Nice job recognizing it." She picked up the bottle of the stock. "It has a tiny amount of my original soup stock, cut crushed sesame chestnuts are in it."

"Heeh! Is that why? It goes well with the parent-child donburi! I'm learning a lot! I think there's some seven flavour herb in here too."

_I wish I was learning as much as you, Komatsu..._

"Fufufu, That's an interesting notion... You've got a pretty good palate and a good power of observation. Together with the qualities of a curious power of imagination... And eroticism."

"No, well- 'Eroticism'?! What do you mean by that?!"

Toriko started laughing loudly while you snickered at this, "It means you've got a talent for erotic cooking, doesn't it?" He added fuel to the fire.

"What on Earth kind of cooking is that?!"

"Erotic cooking exists 'Matsu. Remember that blonde girl in culinary school? The one you had a crush on?" You added the last part quietly so the other two in the room didn’t hear.

"Yes, I know! Don't remind me!" His face flushes red, not wanting to remember the memories.

The lid on the soup started rattling, "Now, then. It's done!" You all looked over to her. "My special menu! 'Century Soup'!"

The two rapidly stood up from their chairs, almost knocking it over. Desperate to look at the soup.

"This is the legendary soup- Eh?!"

"It's- it's empty, Setsuno-san?!"

_What?_

Also getting up to also get a view inside the pot, you confirmed their words. It was empty, but, that can't be? Could it?

"Fufufu, it's really in there. Is it a level of transparency so high that you can't see it?"

_Eh?! Is that possible?!_

"You can smell it, can't you?" Setsuno asked.

You closed your eyes. Oh my gosh. It smelled amazing. This was truly a work of art.

People started shouting outside, inhaling the smell of the soup from outside.

Setsuno chuckled at the noises they made outside, "They really are starting a fuss outside. They can all smell the soup. No wonder, it is many of this century's best ingredients cooked together for half a year. Having removed all the harsh taste so only the delicious taste of stock remains and this perfectly clear soup." She said scooping up the soup into three different bowls. "Here you go, eat up."

"It's here!"

"Itadakimasu!"

"Thank you..."

You looked down at the soup and still couldn't believe that soup could even look like this, it had the same transparently of water. How could you have not heard of this before?!

Gently scooping up a spoonful and drinking it, you felt thousands of ingredients flood your taste buds, words couldn't describe the taste of it. 

But you felt something was missing, like a book missing the last page. You weighted the opinion in your head, tell her and get banned from another kitchen, or don't tell her and be insulting her would be an insulting her by not being honest. You sighed, maybe if you could point out what was needed in the soup, you could then-

"Uh, (Y/n)-chan? (Y/n)?" The words snapped you out of your trance and made you realise that you've probably been ignoring them by accident with your thinking.

You turned your head so quickly that you could have had whiplash from it. "Yes?!" Too loud. "Oh, uh, um. Yes?" You repeated quieter, feeling your face go warm.

_Oh my god. Why are you like this._

"Can you name any of the ingredients? Toriko got mineral coconuts and I got silk bird remnants." He motioned to the man who was currently trying to get seconds from Setsuno.

"Yes?" You squeaked, still embarrassed by your outburst. "There's uh, Wall Penguin? Wall Penguin drool? I think?"

Setsuno stopped talking to Toriko to look at you for a second, not that you realised.

Komatsu had a surprised look on his face, "Huh? Really? I didn't taste that."

"Oh, then I'm probably wrong. Ignore me." To be honest, you just spluttered out whatever came to mind, still slightly lost in thought. You just felt slightly unsatisfied with the taste of the soup. Now that you had the thought that something was missing, you couldn't get it out of your mind.

"Hm, Setsuno-san?" Komatsu started, "I get the feeling like it's lacking something too..."

_Thank you so much for pointing it out Komatsu. I couldn't have done it myself._

You nodded slightly alongside his statement as he turned to look at you for confirmation.

Setsuno's facial expression changed, and now you were worried if Komatsu would get banned from her kitchen. Thankfully, she seemed relieved that someone pointed it out.

"Ne- You mean with its ingredients?" Toriko asked.

She smiled to herself then stood up straight. "Toriko, Komatsu-kun, (Y/n)-chan! Come with me, I'll show you my preparation kitchen!"

Your heart skipped a beat, another kitchen?! Amazing! I knew that some chefs had different kitchens for different purposes, but you never knew that one would be so open to showing people it.

"Your preparation kitchen?!"

"Ehhhh! The kitchen is in a different place?! The tension is petapeta!" Komatsu cheered, using a word you had no idea what it meant.

"Before that, young lady Setsu!"

"Hm? What?" She turned back around, her hand halfway lifting something up.

"Is it okay if I eat all of the soup?" Toriko asked, already picking up the pot on the stove.

"Can we eat more afterwards?" Komatsu said, joining in the pleading.

An irk mar appeared on her face, "Hurry up!" She roared as Toriko lifted up the pot and started to drink it all in one go.

We all went over the counter as Setsuno lifted up a trap door, revealing a dark staircase seemingly going into nowhere.

_Is this a trap? Are we going to be turned into ingredients?_

"Come on, it's down here." She called from the trap door, already down multiple steps.

"Eh?! It's in the basement?!" Komatsu seemed shocked at the sight.

"Uff, This is my first time of hearing of it too," Toriko said, following down after her, disappearing into the darkness.

"The kitchen is just a place to finish the cooking. My dining hall is to be mostly just space for preparation. You saw the giant castle near the dining hall, right?"

_You assume I'm observant enough to see a building? I mean, I guess I did see it?_

"This place is connected to its basement."

"That amazing castle was a kitchen?!" Komatsu exclaimed.

Setsuno pressed a switch, lighting up the view. A massive room appeared in front of your eyes. Your position on the stairs giving you a perfect view of everything. Dozens of red counters were spread out across the room, On each table, it seemed to have a different ingredient on top of it. On the ceiling hung multiple contraptions, also preparing ingredients.

You had to suppress a sudden urge to run around the kitchen and explore every inch of this place, but if you did that you would surely ~~never want to leave~~ get lost in this place. Stumbling after the group, they continued walking down the bridge and talking while you were still soaking in your surroundings.

"You probably understand too, Komatsu-kun and (Y/n)-chan..." You snapped your head in her direction.

_What were you talking about? I wasn't listening, sorry. Crap, I hope that wasn't important._

"You could say that the quality of cooking mostly depends on its preparation. This place is in the basement so customers can't see it, but it's the most important place supporting the shop." She continued, going deeper into the room.

Komastu's eyes seemed to shine even more at those words as he skipped after the older chef, "Thank you for showing us such a precious place!"

A muffled roar shook the kitchen, and also your friend as he stumbled on his feet and fell over in fear.

"Komatsu!" You called, watching him almost rolling/falling off the suspended bridge. You tried to leap forward to catch him but Toriko got there before you, grabbing his leg.

"Come on, Komatsu, it'd be normal for living ingredients to be here." He huffed, watching the small man flail upsidedown.

"I didn't think a beast like that would be here!" He was lifted back to his feet and you petted his back comfortingly as he looked at the beasts in fear.

"Don't worry, they aren't that scary... Are you okay?" You motioned to the creature, they were behind a thick fortified glass fighting one another.

"Wh-what on earth are they...?"

"They're Lonely Grizzlies." Toriko answered as the taller beast took a swing at the other.

* * *

**Lonely Grizzle (Beast)** \- Capture Level : 37

(Y/n)'s Notes:

Lonely Grizzlies are giant beasts related to bears that are known for their solitary and very aggressive nature. ~~Much like me.~~

Lonely Grizzlies live solitary lives, rarely interacting with other members of their kind. When they do encounter one another, and they are both males, they will start a fight for dominance or for their territory. It is not known in females to exhibit the same behaviour.

It has also been known that if a male adult encountered a cub, they will kill it regardless if it's their own. While a female will only attack if its not their own.

* * *

"Normally Lonely Grizzie's meat is too tough to use for cooking, but if you have them keep up a strong fighting spirit, their meat gets tender and delicious. They show their strongest fighting spirit when they see other males of their species."

"I...I see. So they get fellow males close to each other and wait for their meat to get into good..."

You looked at the next cage over. Love Sardines.

* * *

**Love Sardines (Fish)** \- Capture Level : 11

(Y/n)'s Notes:

The Love Sardine is a small light blue-coloured fish that can grow to be around 20 centimetres in length, and when fully grown it can weigh up to 150 grams. Males and females look practically identical and it takes a keen and experienced eye to discern the differences between the two genders. Though, the only difference I could notice is that the female's scales reflect better in the light. 

The meat itself is okay, though the eggs are more note worthly than anything. 

The females only lay good quality eggs when they're surrounded by 100 males. Hah, I could never.

* * *

On the lower floor, there were red counters with countless special cooking ingredients on top of them. Peach Potatoes, Gori Scallions, Fluffy lettuce, Pink Pigeon, Honeydew- You get the picture.

"I see..." Komatsu started, standing next to you, "The reason Setsuno-san doesn't open her shop more than once a month is because of how much time it takes to prepare it, right?"

"Hm, seems so..." Toriko gazed down at the counters next to the two of you.

Until he had to dodge a swinging Setsuno. "Whoa-"

"That's where you're wrong, Komatsu-kun." She says, hanging on the rope, still mid-swing.

_Wha- What the fuck._

She swung across to the balcony on the opposite side of the room and landed perfectly. You don't think anything in your life could have prepared you for the confusion/shock you experienced from that sight. 

"C'mon, this way. Hurry up."

You stood there stunned, meanwhile Toriko excitedly grabbed the rope and swung across the room with the biggest grin on his face.

"Your turn, who's next?" He shouts across to the two of you and swung the rope back in your direction.

You caught the rope in your hands and shared a look with Komatsu. "Uh, should I go first...?"

He nodded furiously, "Go right ahead."

You swung yourself across, stumbling on your landing, but didn't fall over, which was a win in your book.

"Ey, good job, (Y/n)-chan." Toriko commented, which, unbeknownst to you, earned a jealous look from your friend.

"Thanks..." _I see you’re also calling me chan now._

Komatsu looked extremely worried to use this method of transportation, but grabbed the rope tightly and flung himself across, screaming the whole way, before swinging too high up, making Toriko catch him.

"Uh, thank you, Toriko-san." he quickly jumped off and ran after Setsuno. Leaving the two of you to catch up to him. _Strange. Maybe he's just really excited to see the century soup._

The corridor was dimly light, only leaving the candles attached to the walls to lit up the path. Fortunately, the steps weren't that hard to see or else you'll fall down the whole way.

"Um, Setsuno-san, the reason you open your shop once a month isn't because of how long it takes to prepare the food?" Komatsu asks, his voice echoing slightly in the dark corridor. 

"Fufufu, I said it depended on my mood, didn't I? Though that mood I was talking about wasn't my own. It's the ingredients mood."

"The ingredient's... mood?"

"Komatsu-kun, do you think a cook chooses their own ingredients to cook?" He nodded reluctantly, "How absurd. If I thought that I would only be a half-baked chef. It's the opposite, the ingredients choose the costumers and the cook..."

"The ingredients...?!"

Her words only made you puzzled, you've never heard of this before. Regardless of the questionable logistics, you accepted these words.

"I just ask the ingredients their mood every day whether the shop is open or closed all depends on if the ingredients feel like it.

"E-even though you have such perfect preparation-"

"Fufufu, I'm sure you'll be able to understand someday. Certainly, someday..."

_Mildly ominous..._

"Now, we're here! This is the place the century soup is prepared!" You exited the dark tunnel and saw a metal wall.

_What the-?_

"No way..." You breathed, looking upwards.

It was actually an extremely large pot with a tall ladder going up to the top. Hung on the walls was utensils the size of cars. Never had you seen cooking to such a large scale before. You stood there, stunned by the sheer size of it. _(Please do not that out of context. Thank you.)_

"It's huge!" Your friend screamed, his eyeballs almost flying out his skull.

"This is the legendary pot the soup is cooked in!" Toriko inhaled the scent of the soup and started drooling again. "I've never seen such a big pot!"

Setsuno laughed at your reactions and squatted slightly before jumping up to the top of the pot, landing. The pot that was easily the same height as a 3 story building, possibly higher. In one jump. And landed.

_...Why do you even use a cane?_

"Ehh-hhEhhh?! Setsuno-san, just what is she....?!" Komatsu looked like he witnessed a ghost. "I-is she even human?!"

"Come on, Komatsu! Let's go up too!" Toriko was already one quarter up the ladder.

-

Komatsu heaved heavily as he reached the top of the ladder, while you were huffing slightly and Toriko seemed like he had gained more energy from smelling the soup.

Your friend stood up and looked inside the pot, then, instant tears. "Amazing! So moving! So this is how the ingredients are put into the century soup!" He cheered, regaining his breath back within seconds.

You looked in to see hundreds of ingredients inside the pot, and that was only the surface of it. Imagine all of the ingredients that when into making this soup!

"I'm surprised it's already this clear before being strained..." Komatsu stated. 

"Fufufu, that's because it has the harsh tasting matter boiled out of it continuously for half a year." She explained, looking over the soup proudly. "And to be truthful, this soup is still incomplete."

"Incomplete?" You echoed, so you were correct! The soup **was** missing something.

"It has the ingredients silk bird remnants and mineral coconuts in it like I thought, Toriko-san!"

"Yeah! And there is motor onion in it too! What an awesome lineup! It's awesome, young lady setsu!"

You smiled at the two nervously as they ignored Setsuno. A small irk mark starting to appear.

"Fufufu... You think so?" She says, trying to get the attention of the other two and suppressing her anger. "But, this soup truthfully, it's still incomplete...."

You stared at the soup, gaining more and more appreciation for it, barely believing that it was incomplete. The two named more of the ingredients they saw while you just admired it happily.

"Ah! If I look carefully, there are German swordfish bones in there too, Toriko-san! It's said that the strong smell and harsh taste of it don't stop for months!"

"But it has no smell at all! Awesome, Young Lady Setsu!"

"Yeah, right It's really awesome!" She shouted, stopping the two from speaking any more and also forcing you to cover your ears. "But this century soup isn't done! It's not complete!"

They looked back at her in confusion, "eh?

"You're so slow! Realise faster!" She shouted the irk mark on her head growing bigger.

"W-what do you mean it's not complete Setsuno-san?"

"Fum, This truth is, century soup is something that exists in the natural world."

"How?!"

"Eh, really?!"

"Fufufu... A long time ago Jiro-chan scooped some up for me, unable to forget that mouthful... I made this soup imitating it." She smiled at the memory while stirring the pot with the largest ladel you've ever seen.

"It's plenty delicious already though... Setsuno-san, it's still incomplete...?" Komatsu asked, looking over at her.

"It's not in me to be able to reproduce the taste perfectly..." She says with real sadness in her voice.

"But..." He instantly noticed the tone of her voice. "Uh, it's delicious, isn't it Toriko-san?" He says, trying to comfort her.

"It's too delicious!" Toriko shouts, drinking the soup straight from the pot, making loud slurping sounds.

"Don't drink like that, Toriko!" Setsuno scolded, temporarily stopping her stirring.

"Might it be that... The century soup in the natural world tastes better than this...?" Komatsu wondered.

"...I wonder... It's hard to explain the taste, but... Komatsu-kun, when you ate this soup you said it is lacking something... You agree with him, don't you (Y/n)-chan?" You nodded, surprised that she saw your subtle nod. "Yes... Exactly according to this feeling, the real thing has a kind of taste with something more..."

She let out a heavy sigh before continuing, "What that one thing is I can't figure out, no matter how I try!"

"N-no, I, about that, I haven't eaten the real thing either..."

"Komatsu-kun, Why do you think I brought you three to this kitchen?"

"Uh, no?"

"Of all the countries' presidents and wealthy people and gourmets, not one of them has given my advice on my cooking..."

"I've been charmed by you twos sense of taste and sensitivity, Komatsu and Toriko... But (Y/n)-chan..."

"Uh, yes?" _Oh no, am I in trouble?_

"May I speak with you a second?" She asks, motioning you to come closer to her, making Komatsu to stare curiously. You shared a look with Komatsu, the both of you shrugging at the same time then walked over to her.

"...So, do you need something?"

"I think that it'll be a good idea for you to go as well." She says in a blunt tone.

"...Can I ask why?"

"You said that you tasted Wall Penguin Drool, correct?"

"Yes?"

She hummed to herself. "You should go and ensure that they get the century soup."

Her words confused you more and more, "...Why?"

"I think that you'll figure that out yourself, this would be a good experience to hone your skills, both you and Komatsu." _Alright, I guess you'll leave me dying with curiosity._ "If it's you three, perhaps you'll be able to make this soup perfect..."

Komatsu waved his hands in front of himself. "S-something like that, for me to do something like complete it..."

"Fufufu, don't you want to try it? The real century soup?"

Instantly, Toriko stopped drinking and shouted, "I wanna try it!"

"Fufufu, is that so, Toriko?"

"Hey, Komatsu, (Y/n)-chan! You wanna try the real soup, right?!"

"Y-yes. I'd like to try it!" Komatsu replied and you nodded alongside him. 

"The time is right! The Century Soup only appears once every 100 years! That's why it's called century soup. That time is now, your timing is good too! Right now there's a man in Gourmet Town who knows about the news. He's gathering Bishokuyas from all over the world so he can get his hands on the soup!"

A large smile creped onto your face, sounds like a pleasant trip. Your bag rustled, seemed like Fluffy agreed.

"There's no doubt you'll be hired by him soon, Toriko! Take Komatsu-kun and (Y/n)-chan. Eat the real soup and make a **magnificent Century Soup!** "


	6. Ice Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are having a good holiday! Happy New year in advance! （*＾-＾*）

"Hey, Where's (Y/n)-chan?" Toriko asked the small chef.

"Oh she's-"

"Over here..." You quietly say, raising your hand. "I really don't want to go in... It's already so loud..." Glaring at the 'Heavy Lodge Bar' or otherwise known as ' The Meeting Bar'.

There were sounds of chatter poured out from the doors of the bar. A constant train of traffic was leading in and out of the building and the smell of overpowering alcohol was stinging your nose. 

Yeah, you did not like this place too much.

"Hah! Yeah, it's even busier than usual." Toriko laughed at your disgust/fear.

_...I feel like I'm going to vomit..._

Komatsu noticed your expression. "(Y/n)-chan, you can do this! Remember this is for the Century Soup!" 

"Ugh, I'll do it... I'll do it for the Century Soup."

"That's the spirit! Alright, let's go in!" Toriko pushed open the gate and the bar instantly went silent. While your ears thank this, it made you worry.

"Hey, what's up?" Toriko greeted, breaking the silence.

"IT'S TORIKO!"

"T-TORIKO HAS SHOWN UP HERE!"

_How does the deafening get even louder?_

The majority of people stood up just to get a look at Toriko. Thankfully, they only cared about him and not his companions, which happened to be you and Komatsu. 

"Hahaha! I missed it, the Heavy Lodge! It's as crowded as always!" Toriko laughed while walking up to the bar with the two of you trailing behind him.

"It's amazing, Toriko-san, everyone knows you! Well, now that I think of it, I guess you are pretty famous." Komatsu said, you could barely hear his words over the excited cheers. He looked around the place and judging by his looks, he seems to recognize a few people from the crowd. 

Toriko plopped himself down on the small stool, making a squeak. "Hey, master, haven't heard from you in a while!" He greeted, who you assumed was the owner.

He grinned, slamming the cup down. "Here ya go, some enamel beer. Drink up, Toriko! How many years has it been?! You got so famous so you haven't been showing your face around here? I've been lonely!" The owner roared, matching the sound level of everyone else

"It's cause even without coming here, I've had plenty of luck with job requests."

"Don't be so cold! Come over here even if it doesn't have to do with work!"

"Mm. 'another beer." 

"Fast!"

Tuning out of their conversation, not finding any interest in it, and more in keeping food in your stomach. You sat in your seat unmoving, trying to tune out the noise around you. The smell of alcohol was one thing, but all the people talking? It making you feel more miserable.

After failing badly, you went back to listening to Toriko's conversation. It seemed like someone else joined the conversation? It was a monkey with a scar over his eye and seemed overconfident. Did I say monkey? I mean man.

"...Recently the clients have had more harsh judgment, they don't get into negotiations so much anymore..." You overheard from Toriko's conversation.

"Sounds tough... For people to not hold negotiations you must not get an intermediation fee."

_A.... intermediation fee?_

"Eh? Master, works as an intermediary between the Bishokuyas and the clients?" Komatsu asked, joining in.

"Yeah. Master is known as 'Judgement Morijii'. He's got discerning eyes that can see through a Bishokuya to know his true power and talent! Though it's a shame that not as much people are asking for his help nowadays."

"Right now there's a lot of Bishokuyas with fake 'Full Courses' so not being able to check their IDs there are lots of clients who come here to rely on Master's judgment."

"I see..."

"Hah, Toriko, I can see your level went up drastically again."

"You can tell? I expected no less from you."

"I see you brought some good company here, who's this little man?" He motioned over to your direction, which you didn't notice at first until you looked back over to him. 

Your friend's eyebrows shot up, "Eh? Me?" 

"No, not you. Him." He pointed directly at you. 

You sweat dropped but realized that it might be better for people to think you’re a guy. Female Bishokuyas tend to draw a lot of attention just because of how uncommon they were. Chefs, not so much, but just to be safe it might be better to not correct him. 

"Oh, I'm (Y-, er, Kelpie. Please address me as Kelpie." The three of them gave you a weird look, probably from how you just said your name is 'Kelpie'.

"Hah, your level is good, but it looks like you haven't improved on it for a while. Though, it's not quite the level of the Heavenly Kings. You're a chef?" 

_You can tell that much? But you can't tell I'm a woman? On the other hand..._

You avoided eye contact. Not wanting this person to know that much about you, you decided to play dumb. "Yep, I'm a chef, and It's a bit surprised you're saying that I don't really fight that much."

"..." 

_Uh oh, he doesn't believe me. Oh well..._

He didn't press on his suspicions and turned back to Toriko. "By the way... Today, strong customers and small fries alike are gathering here, probably gathering for the customers who are coming here soon..."

Abruptly, the doors slammed open and alarmed everyone. They all stood up, prepared to fight. Even you stood up by this commotion. 

It was hard to see over the crowd of people, but there were a few men in jet black suits with sunglasses causing the noise. They didn't look like businessmen, looking more like bodyguards. Definitely not your average Bishokuya.

"Everyone! Stop eating! Mr Colonel is here!" One of them commanded.

_Who...?_

A short old man walked in after the men in suits and blew out a puff of smoke.

**"I'll give 10 billion to whoever takes the magnificent me's request."** His voice echoed through the room.

_10 billion?!_

You would have done a double-take on the man but everyone started crowding around him, blocking your vision. 

"T-TEN BILLION?!"

"THIS PERSON IS-"

"MR COLONEL MOKKOI! THE COMPANY PRESIDENT WHO MAKES 20 TRILLION A YEAR!"

Komatsu's eyes widened. "Toriko-san! That man...!"

"Yeah, he's the big spender from the department store." 

_Am I missing something...? Oh wait, that must have been the reason why Toriko and Komatsu were late._

"IS THAT REWARD AMOUNT SERIOUS?!"

"NO, MORE IMPORTANTLY, DO YOU KNOW THE LOCATION OF THAT INGREDIENT?!"

The room stilled, and you savoured the silence. 

The old man laughed loudly, his voice echoing. "What a foolish question... Who do you think I am...?" He let out a puff of smoke, then turned around. "I won't refuse anyone who comes. Anyone who wants to take the challenge of the century soup, come with me!"

Your eardrums erupted, the amount of noise was unbelievable and you almost regretted coming to get the century soup. Well, that was an exaggeration, you would _never_ give up food for something so petty. But it was coming really close.

"Be careful on the journey, Toriko. It'll probably be a rough trip. You too, I believe you said Kelpie?"

"Ne? That right?" Toriko looked at him, looking as excited for the trip ahead.

"Oh, uh, t-thank you for your concern." 

"Ah, um~ Do you think that someone like me would be all right with travelling with him? Master...?" Komatsu asked, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Hm? You're going? Actually, who are you?" 

"Ah..." His voice getting quieter, "Sorry, I was slow in telling you... I'm called Chef Komatsu, like, um, Kelpie."

"He's been coming with me."

"Ho, a chef?! You've got two chefs with you, Toriko? Which one’s your combo partner?"

"C-combo partner?!" Komatsu squeaked out, while you shook your head in response to his question

_Not me. No one would want_ **_me_ ** _of all people for a combo partner._

"Neither."

"Ah, shame..." He tutted, before inspecting Komatsu carefully. "In these long years, looking at people going on journeys... There are people I've wanted to stop no matter what, then there are people like you... It's mysterious."

His response confused both you and Komatsu, while Toriko just brushed it off, standing up from his seat, stretching.

The man's face lit up with a wide grin, "It's fine for you to go! Be careful!"

Toriko let out a bubbly laugh, "I bet you're glad Komatsu!"

"Yes!"

-

You were on a big boat, if you knew what model it was you would name it, but since you don't know anything about boats, the only way you could describe it is that it looked like a metallic battleship. 

"Gentlemen, you've done well to assemble here." Mr Colonel said. Everyone was currently gathered in one big room listening to this short stack.

~~Not~~ surprisingly everyone in this room was male. Hopefully, none of them thinks you're female. You _really_ don't want to stand out. 

"First, I'd like to thank you for bravery. Now then, without delay, I'll tell you the location of the Century Soup. Towards the intense cold, where everything is frozen, Ice Hell!"

To summarise, in the past, since there were no fridges, some people went to Ice Hell to preserve the ingredients. Only the strongest could afford to preserve the food this way, so all of the ingredients would be very high class. And recently the ice started breaking apart because of an eruption of.... methane hydrate? If you remember correctly? This happens every 100 years or so, and what comes out of the melted ice is the century soup. 

They gave everyone these things called 'Rider Suits', basically, they help preserve body heat. You wore yours underneath your clothes, whereas Komatsu and Toriko wore theirs and nothing else, speaking which, where did they leave their clothes?

Currently, the three of you were on the front of the ship. The two of you were talking to each other while you talked to Fluffy who was relaxing in the thermos. 

"...Why are you talking to Fluffy, (Y/n)-chan?" Komatsu whispered to you, careful so Toriko couldn't hear, who's looking at the cold sea. 

"I'm just telling him to prepare to get cold."

"Really? Can he cope to such a cold place? I mean... They're literally just a living body of water."

* * *

**Kelpie (Fluffy)** \- Capture Level: ???

(Y/n)'s Notes:

Not much is known about Kelpies, IGO doesn't have that much information about them, so I'll just talk about Fluffy. Anything you read in here may just be an exception to Fluffy. Why am I even writing this down, no one apart from me will ever read this.

Kelpies are animals made out of water, they mostly take the form of a horse, but they can transform into other creatures it sees (humans are no exception).

It can only transform into an animal it remembers. Sadly, it's memory isn't very good, and it will choose to transform into something it physically sees. Fortunately, you can train them to remember a few animals. There doesn't seem to be a limit so far, but even then, it's still very difficult to train them.

Young Kelpies seem to struggle self-regulating their temperature and only start to learn when it's around a few years old. They also have trouble transforming into other creatures and will tend to stick to being a horse or just a body of water. 

Once they made their home somewhere, they seem to only want to stay in that area. They are also quite territorial of their home, showing that they will defend it will their lives. Maybe this is out of pride. They will often try to drown anyone who approaches, usually by tricking them, but sometimes they will just attack the intruder outright. 

* * *

"...It'll be fine. We've been practising." You turned back to your bottle, "Fluffy, choose an animal that can last in the cold, okay?" They nod, slinking out of the bottle and shifting into an arctic fox, then snuggling into your bag. 

"That'll do." You twist the bottle shut and place it back in the bag, letting Fluffy curl around it protectively. 

"Mm... I'll just hope they don’t freeze up.."

"Don’t worry, the rider suits will keep us warm if you guys are worried about freezing up," Toriko reassures, only hearing this part of the exchange. 

"Er, speaking of which, how do these rider suits work?" Komatsu asked. 

"They explained when we were back inside. They put multiple layers of high cold-resistant rubber material into a suit. The thin layers rub together with each other and frictional heat preserves the whole body. The heat insulation could even rival that of a blizzard bear's fur that lives in permafrost, and use this substitute for it." Toriko explained.

"Even still, it seems there isn't a version you can use for a horse, unfortunately..." Someone says behind you.

There was a beautiful white stallion, flowing white mane. Around its neck was a gold plated necklace with a crescent-shaped symbol dangling from it. Oh, and a person was riding them.

Fluffy gazed at the newcomers warily from your bag, peeking from the covers carefully. You rubbed the top of their head reassuringly, coaxing them back into the bag.

"Hello, Toriko-san. I am a member of the Gourmet Knights. My name is Takimaru." His hair covered one of his eyes and he had a moon crescent embedded into his turban. 

_Is he matching his horse?_

"Hoo, the Gourmet Knights, eh?" Toriko replied, his eyes glinting. 

"...Gourmet Knights?" Komatsu repeated.

"They are a devoted band of bishokuyas to dedicated to the teaching of the happiness of food: 'Gourmet Doctrine'. There are only a few of them but hey got supremely strong hearts." Toriko stepped closer to Takimaru. "It's surprising to see a young man like you with them."

"It's because I'm a new member."

"I see... How is Ai doing?"

Takimaru's eyes widened, "Y-yes, Leader is doing well...! I was surprised when I heard I would meet you, Toriko-san."

Suddenly, Fluffy shook your bag franticly, even scratching the inside of it slightly. "What's wrong- Whoa!" You almost lost your footing as the ship shook wildly. 

"What the-?!" Takimaru held onto the reins tightly, keeping his horse in place. 

Multiple consecutive gunshots when off and shot into the sea, sending waves flying up into the air. A loud voice alerted everyone, "It's a wild beast!" Komatsu screamed in fear as the ship began to sway. 

_Uh oh, that doesn't seem good..._

The crowd around you, got louder, mimicking the same behaviour at the bar. 

"Already, in this part of the ocean?!" Toriko says, looking out at the sea. It was still fairly shallow waters. 

"It's-It's a school of sharks!" Komatsu shouts, before going behind Toriko for protection.

* * *

**Grand Shark (Fish) - Capture Level: 6**

(Y/n)'s Notes:

Very aggressive creatures, they will attack any prey despite being on the lower end of the capture levels (compared to creatures living in the same area). Because of this, they attack in packs and will often fight over food when they successfully hunted their prey. 

In terms of food, broiling them is fine, but sashimi or sushi is better. Though, the fins are quite nice in a soup.

* * *

"GYAAA! The sharks are climbing up!"

"Heee, Grand Sharks should do just fine. They'll make delicious sashimi."

Everyone started fighting the intruders, lunging to attack them without even thinking about it. There were multiple loud screeches in the background, a mix of sharks and people.

One of them approached you, snapping its jaws hungrily. "Well... You don’t really want to do that." You warned, opening your knife pouch. It roared back in response before it was cut off by a wave of your knife, making it leap back in fear. It then scuttled off to fight someone else.

You noticed a Grand Sharks started snapping at the smaller chef in the corner of your eye. Shouting, you gained his attention. "Your knife! Use your knife!"

"I-I can't fight them with my knife! Who do you think I am?!" 

The shark ran forward before you could get to him. 

"KOMATSU!" 

The shark's head was impaled by a spear through its head. It was intercepted by another Bishokuya. 

You ran over to him, dodging the fights happening around you. "A-are you okay?!" 

"Yeah... Yeah. I'm okay." he nodded. "I left Toriko's side for one second..."

Sighing loudly, "Komatsu... When we get back, let me teach you some techniques..." You say, walking back over to Toriko as he was clearing the sharks off effectively. "If you die on one of these hunting trips I'm going to never get over your death..."

"Eheh... Thanks... Things have gotten really serious, but we can get to it safely, right?" He shouted over everyone screaming in pain.

"Ah? The trip's just starting. To this kind of situation, Komatsu, aren't you already familiar?" Toriko finished with a bright smile. 

A striped sea crocodinde roared and slammed itself upon the front of the ship, causing the transportation to dip forward. "I'm still not used!"

"A baby!"

"(Y/n)! No!"

-

The fights lasted for hours as more and more animals wanted to destroy the ship, leaving everyone busy fighting them off. Most of the time, you stayed out of their way, much to Fluffy's disappointment. 

The boat was getting closer and you could finally see it in sight. 

"Whoa! This is ice hell?! It's huge!"

It looked like a glacial plateau, and from the current position of the boat, you could see the tops of mountains on top of it.

Everyone was making a ruckus overseeing this big chunk of ice while you scooted through the crowd to find the pair after you've got separated from them during the fights.

The chef noticed you first. "(Y/n)! You're back! Where were you?!"

"Sorry, sorry. I was trying to avoid getting into any fights."

"Everyone look up!"

"Eh?"

Oh, just an extremely large chunk of ice which definitely has the potential to crush and kill everyone on this ship. Nothing big.

"UWAAAA! THE ICE SHELF BROKE APART AND A PIECE IS FALLING TOWARDS USSS!"

Sounds of screaming erupted as impending doom approached. Multiple cannons went off and shot the falling massive snowball (it might be more appropriate to call it a small iceberg), doing nothing to stop it. Not even denting it in the slightest. The size of the ice was the same size as half of the ship, there was practically no way that anyone would survive if it hit the ship. Great.

"(Y/n)! I don't wanna die!" Komatsu pulled your sleeve, clearly scared for his life.

"I do, I've got a will ready." You joked. 

"Gyah! Toriko-san!"

"Don't lose your head screaming, Komatsu-kun. Step back."

He stood on the helm of the ship, preparing to attack it. You stood back and watched, interested in how he'll handle this problem. 

"KNIFE!"

_Oh, he's going to handle it like that. You know what? I don't know what I expected._

"FLYING FORK!"

_.....It doesn't seem to be working right now....._

You started feeling slightly nervous, seeing that both of the strikes hadn't stopped the chunk of ice. "Uh, Toriko-san? Do you need help?"

"No, it only needs one more push." He said, readying his attack. "Stand back."

"AHHHH! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

**"5 REN KUGI PUNCH!"**

Success. 

The iceberg was forced into itself, cracks flowed through its sides, and it split in two. Magnificently crumpling into dozens of pieces of ice. 

"Toriko-san! You're amazing!" Komatsu praised, jumping at his friend. 

"You scared me for a second..." You breathed out, stroking Fluffy reassuringly. More for yourself than him.

Then they bit your finger. Ouch.

Sounds of praise and shock echoed around Toriko before it was cut off by Mr Colonel speaking into a megaphone. "Now then, from here a helicopter will be transporting you gentlemen to one of the platforms near the summit of the ice shelf. After that, you'll be ascending on your own power."

Some people chattered to each other at this. "Why nearby it? Why can't they just fly us over?"

"That's because a helicopter can't land in 'Ice Hell'. Didn't you know that? Maybe you shouldn't go up..."

Mr Colonel continued speaking. "Here, our number of people will get considerably smaller. There's only one helicopter, though. If you divide into two groups there'll be plenty of room. Get ready right away! The first group leaves as soon as possible."

"Komastsu-kun, (Y/n)-chan, we'll leave in the first camp."

"Okay," a sudden thought came to mind. "ah... If you guys could..."

"Hm? What?"

"From this point on, please refer to me as Kelpie. I kinda don't want my name to give..." you motioned to yourself, "this away... Y'know?"

"Sure...?"

-

The flight up happened quicker than expected, and the same person from the heavy bar came over to talk to Toriko again. You learned that his name is... Zombie? Zonge? He was the only one there who wasn't wearing a rider suit. And would soon regret that.

"From this point on, please climb up on your own! I wish you food luck." And with that, the pilot flew off.

The cold instantly bit at you, even with the rider suits on. You clung onto your bag and clothes tightly, then took a deep breath, preparing yourself mentally for the journey ahead. 

Fluffy peeked out of your bag, seeing that the lane had now landed. "Sorry, but you’ll have to stay inside here for a while.. Okay? If you need anything, just tell me, otherwise please stay." 

They let out some sort of grunt before tucking themselves back in the bag.

"Alright... Let's do this." You whisper to yourself, then began to climb up the frozen wall slowly.

Toriko got up there before everyone else, and you joined him shortly after. Taking his hand as he extended it to you. "Thank you.."

You looked straight past him. Noticing the frozen creature immediately.

* * *

**Tundra Dragon (Dragon) - Capture Level: 55**

(Y/n)'s Notes:

**[N/A]** ****

* * *

It was frozen in place mid-roar, still in attack mode. Even in death, it’s presence seemed to linger.

Something didn't seem right. No way it was so cold that it just froze over! Something had to have happened to it. I mean, if it as really that cold it would have froze over when it was a child. 

_Just what is going to happen here...?_

Komatsu's attention went to the frozen people. "Wha- What is this?!"

There were a few dozen people, frozen mid-step. They had clothes of all sorts, showing generations of people from the past.

"Bishokuyas." You answered, looking sadly at the icy figures. Not every hunt goes well.

"What?! No way...!" Komatsu shouted against the bellowing wind, looking back at the statues.

"Even though this is just the entrance, So this is the intense-cold Ice Hell?!" Toriko exclaimed, looking at their environment around him with intense eyes.

"What happened, Toriko-san?!" 

_That voice... Takimaru? I think that was his name?_

"Uwah! T-tundra Dragon!"

Toriko turned around to face him, his skin already covered in snow, "Takimaru! Roll up your sleeves! If you're half-hearted you won't survive!"

-

A few more minutes passed by and everyone finished climbing up the summit. They too were shocked by the frozen corpses.

Takimaru suggested to everyone to stay close together (you didn't enjoy this idea, but understood the logic behind it), Toriko wanted to go the most direct path. Apparently, not everyone agreed with Toriko's idea to walk straight forward, so some decided to spilt off into different directions. 

Your group went straight ahead, another one took a more indirect route and the other route where it was led by that... monkey..? No, no, his name is Zombie.

You walked closely to Toriko and Komatsu, feeling most comfortable next to your friend. Tightly gripping your bag strap, you pushed on. Even staying still for one second made you feel like falling asleep forever.

Barely a few minutes have passed and the group had already lessened. It seemed like you weren’t the only one struggling to walk through this thick blizzard. Not long after, your group was already cut in half. But there was still a good number of people. 

Until flying shards of ice started killing everyone. 

Mother nature is not feeling kind today. 

You scraped past, barely dodging the ice in time, even diving into the snow at one point to hide from it.

On the other hand, your group was reduced to less than 15 people. 

Thankfully, Komatsu was fine. But as a result, you, Toriko and Komatsu agreed that Komatsu would stay close to Toriko or you as any given time since he was almost hit today. Though, you’re not sure why Toriko would trust you with something so important even though he hasn’t seen any of your skills.

Occasionally, you would look back. And wish you didn't.

-

After the whole day of walking, people needed to take a rest.

Toriko had dug up a hole in the ground to avoid the blizzard/flying icicles, and everyone was either inside their tents or resting on top of a sleeping bag.

You didn't fit in either of these categories. From going outside so much, you could sleep like a dog, on the cold floor. And that's what you planned to do.

Opening your bag, a fluffy companion jumped out at you. 

"GEh?!" Your voice was muffled as it clung onto your face. They let out a small cry, then leapt off, scampering away. "Oi! Where do you think you’re going?!"

You found them curled up on top of Komatsu’s face, blocking his breathing effectively. "You little brat, what do you think- Hm? Komatsu-kun? Are you alright?" You asked, noticing your friend was laying down, trying to gather as much heat as possible, but his body was shivering more than to be expected. He didn't answer at first, which made you increasingly worried. "’ Matsu? You okay?"

"Huh...? Yeah, I'm fine." His voice was slurred, which didn't reassure you in the slightest, examine closer.

_Slurred speech, drowsiness, shivering, decreased reflexes..._

"Komatsu, I'm going to make some hot chocolate or something hot you can drink for you. I think you have hypothermia. Please try to stay warm."

"...What? Am I going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think it's mild, so you'll be fine." _I'll make sure of it_

"Excuse me," a voice said behind you, turning your head to look at them. It was Takimaru. "I have some soup, but it's cold right now, would that be okay?"

You hesitated to accept the offer. _Komatsu needs it. Put your pride aside._

"Yes, that would be great." He hands over the thermos containing the soup. "Thank you. Do you want some too? I'm going to heat this up."

"No, I'll be fine. But please heat up all of it for everyone else. You included." He smiles kindly.

_...Strangely generous of you._

It isn't long before the soup is heated up, and you poured some into a little cup Takimaru offered to you. It was a simple vegetable broth, none of the ingredients looked outstanding. It was strange, you saw other Bishokuyas carrying around high protein foods on this trip, but Takimaru chose this? Why?

You didn't question it, and held the cup in your hand, waiting for him to take it. "Here, Komatsu-kun." 

"Ah, thank you." He took a sip of the drink and was pleasantly greeted with its warmth. "It's delicious, thank you, (Y- er, Kelpie."

"Thank Takimaru-san. I didn't make it." You had returned the now heated soup back to the man.

"Oh, thank you, Takimaru-san. You should have some too." Komatsu offered back to him.

"No, I'm alright. Please drink all of it." Takimaru opens his small bag, bringing out some cups. Presumably for him to share the soup with everyone else.

Komatsu had a concerned look, "but, Takimaru-san, you haven't eaten anything this whole time, have you?"

A man in the white suit intruded into your conversation, "It's because of 'Gourmet Doctrine' has a month of fasting, doesn't it? You've gotten used to an empty stomach." You looked up at him, seeing that his face was covered in scars.

_Does he fight a lot..?_

".....I don't have any for you old man, but..." He poured another cup, "I have some for your subordinates, please give it to them to drink."

He warily gazed at the cup in his hands, "A charitable soul?" He let out a dry laugh, "Gourmet doctrine sure is dazzling."

"No... There's not enough for an old man like you..."

"Quit saying old man, I'm only 20 years old," Match says, then looked past him and... glared at you...?

_Did I imagine that? Did I do something? What did I do?!_

"Huh? Where is Toriko-san?" Komatsu asked, not noticing your confusion.

You quickly answer his question, letting the other two continue speaking to each other. "He's up above, I think he's keeping watch."

"Eh?! In the middle of this blizzard?!"

"Yeah, don't worry I told him if needed to swap he can get me to do it."

"You said he was keeping watch... For wild beasts?"

"That is the most plausible explanation, right? But, there is always the improbable." 

"....You know I don't like it when you speak like that, right?"

"I know. It's just funny to scare you sometimes." You laugh then closed the book.

"Not funny!"

"...Actually, I want to ask Toriko-san something, I’ll be back in a second, watch Fluffy for me."

"Erk, Okay...?" Komatsu squeaked, looking at the animal cautiously.

You climbed up to the top, feeling the cold air suffocating you all over again. The blizzard had lightened from earlier, but still enough to not question it's name. 

"Hm? Kelpie? Whatcha doing here? Or should I call you (Y/n)-chan since there's no one here?" Toriko asked, his skin blue.

"Please stick with Kelpie until the trip is over. Anyways, I have a few questions to ask you... If you don’t mind."

-

Last night, Toriko had swapped with Match during his watch. You felt that it was mildly insulting that he let Match keep watch but not you. Actually no, you weren't insulted, you were just upset that you had to spend the night with other people and not by yourself.

The group took off again when everyone was rested, which you assumed was in the early morning, but had no way of telling due to the constant blizzard above. No one in the group had any way to tell the time either, and even if they did, it would have frozen over. 

There were even more deaths today, leaving very few people now. They froze to death. It wasn't as painful as getting ripped open from flying icicles, but still, it was not a peaceful death. 

_But in the wild, you have to fight for yourself._

You shook your head.

Komatsu seemed to be suffering a lot more and more from the cold. You hadn't even realised that this was extremely new to him until you remembered him. He had never experienced anything like this, meanwhile, you had experienced a similar environment. Everyone had gone through tough experiences similar to this, he had never. 

As a result of your worrying, you checked on him every so often, looking over to him, even offering to carry him at one point. He refused.

Fortunately, Fluffy sensed a pack of animals up ahead, he crawled out of the bag and was now hiding in your clothes. Probably to gather more heat as well. 

You whistled at Toriko, passing the message on. He looked over to your direction.

Chance was on your side when you realized it was a pack of Freezer Bisons.

* * *

**Freezer Bison (Mammal) - Capture Level: 11**

(Y/n)'s Notes:

They live in cold environments, such as Kilton Mountains, Harbin River and Ice Hell.

They have a strong resistance against the cold due to their thick furry hides and their layers of blubber, and can even survive being frozen. Hence the name.

They are somewhat strong in battle and attack by ramming their heads and horns into their targets, but they mainly rely on their large numbers to subdue enemies. 

Their muscles are laced with blubbery fat to keep them warm, the best way to cook them is to slow cook in hot water first then to sear on a hot iron pan for a solid minute. Personally.

* * *

"Yo, I'm going to leave Komatsu with you. We're going to use their pelts as clothing and they'll ease our hunger." Toriko says, lowering your friend down. Komatsu was lagging behind and was swooped up by Toriko when he was getting too slow.

"No need, Toriko-san," Takimaru spoke up. "From here we'll be attacking."

"Yeah, if we move, our bodies will heat up a bit," Match said, approaching one of them

"Is that so? You guys sound promising."

You observed them carefully, now having a closer look at how they attack. Before you saw glances of their fights on the boat. But now, you were up close and personal. 

Takimaru had a pre-shot routine, amplifying his chances of success. It was interesting, you've never seen anything quite like it. Though, it seemed to require a high level of concentration.

Match's techniques... It probably isn't something you could replicate. I mean, you could do it if you tried hard enough, but it probably isn't worth it. It would be rather taxing on your body if you did.

The rest of the pack had gotten angry/defensive, wanting to attack. Match drew his sword out again. You were about to step in until they all scuttled away from Toriko's intimidation.

The fur was split among the 8 of you, and the meat was frozen cold. Obviously, your group couldn't just stop and eat the raw meat right there and then, so everyone carried a small piece of the meat. Good thing was that the freezer bisons was mostly fur so it wasn't wasted too much.

The fur did an excellent job of trapping the warmth, finally being able to somewhat feel your feet again. Fluffy snuggled into the fur, enjoying it as well.

"Here, Komatsu-Kun, this should alleviate most of the cold." Toriko bundled the fur around the small chef, shielding him from the cold. 

"T- thank you, Toriko-san..." Komatsu breathed out, clinging to the fur. 

"Um... Toriko-san, aren't you going to take some fur?" You asked as Toriko carried Komatsu on his back again.

"No, I need to adapt to this temperature."

"Are you sure? There's still some left."

"Nah. Okay, let's go! If we enter the ice mountain this wind should calm down, too."

-

Toriko was right, the wind had calmed down once inside.

The ice mountain was grand. The ice glitter despite the lack of light and there was a beautiful blue shine throughout the place. Even if you died here, you wouldn't mind. This was a stunning place to die in. 

You looked for your friend. "Komatsu-kun? You okay? Whoa-" he swayed slightly, Toriko quickly supported him.

"A... Alive... We somehow made it alive... I'm really glad." He breathes out with a smile, seemingly relieved. 

"Yeah, you did great, Komatsu-kun." You reassured.

Toriko had a small smile on his face, something you found strange considering his smiles were always taking up a third of his face. "Good job, Komatsu-kun, you've got guts." He brushes off some snow on his head before turning, "You guys did well enduring this much too. That's why you're gourmet yakuza members." 

Match looked to his subordinates. "If you guys lost to something like nature, I wouldn't know who to get revenge on."

"Vice-boss..."

Takimaru asked, taking off the cape of fur, seeing that there was no need anymore. The large walls of ice were blocking most of the wind coming in. "Shall we take a small break, Toriko-san?"

"No, let's hurry on ahead. The century soup is somewhere in this ice mountain. Let's go while the meal is hot!"

_So you just want to eat?_

"Okay! Let's go! I wanna eat some soup!"

"Toriko-san, could it be... You're just hurrying because you're hungry...?" Takimaru asked, watching the glutton running into the mountain.

"That's exactly right, Takimaru-san," Komatsu confirmed.

-

If you thought that the outside was beautiful, the inside was stunning. 

There were pillars of ice reaching the pitch-black ceiling, it sparkled like the night sky. A blanket of snow covered the ground, providing softness to your surroundings, a stark contrast to the sharp, but mythical ice walls/floor. 

You wanted to take pictures of the place, but due to the fact your phone was dead, you couldn't.

Currently, you were sitting down and listening to your group talking about the aurora inside of the cave. Apparently, it was related to the century soup somehow. 

"The aurora is a guide... It's really like a fairy-tale story." Match says.

"Y-yes... Though if it was possible to have less wild beasts show up it would be a lot more fairy-tale-like..." Komatsu said, looking at the body of the Sliver Grizzly. 

"It's a valuable source of protein in this intensely cold land. Be more grateful, Komatsu-kun."

"Don't invalidate my efforts, Komatsu-kun." You lightly scolded, being the one who prepared the meat, grilling it over a small flame. "Also, you're discriminating by looks, Sliver Grizzlies are rather gentle creatures."

"It's a shame that there are no spices to go with the Sliver Grizzly," Komatsu added to your grief.

"Yes..." You sighed sadly, slumping over slightly. _I wanna marinate it in soy sauce and garlic..._

"Yun, yun~"

You snapped your head upwards, "Huh, sounds like a Wall Penguin. Or maybe an ice fin gull...?"

"What are you talking abou- UWAOH!" Komatsu screams, looking behind him, revealing a little pink bird. "That surprised me! What's this?!" 

The penguin flapped its flippers happily, "Yun!"

_It's so fucking cute._

"Ho, that guy's rare. It's a child wall penguin. I'm surprised you knew what it was by its voice." Toriko states. 

"Yun! Yun, yun!" They flapped it's flippers again.

You clutched your hands tightly, holding yourself back. S _o fucking cute!_

"It's- It's- so cute! What is it?~ This is fairy-tale like." Komatsu hugged the bird, making it squeal out in joy. 

"That guy is an endangered species..." Toriko says.

"It's even a lost child, isn't it?" Takimaru added in. 

Komatsu ignored the comments and the penguin started pecking his cheek, probably trying to play with him while squeaking happily. "This guy!~ What're you doing?~" 

Its probably just a few months old, judging by behaviour and bright pink coat. Fluffy peaked out of your coat, looking at the newcomer. When finding the source of the sound, it yawned and snuck back into its original position.

"The child wall penguin isn't cautious, it'll get attached to any living thing that comes near it... even meat-eating beasts. Because of that, it's been preyed on and it's numbers have been decreased." Toriko explained, watching the scene unfold. 

"But on the other hand, the parents are over-protective. They're almost definitely trying to find them." You say, handing over a small piece of meat to the baby bird. They munched it down happily, then resumed pecking your friend in the face.

"That's an understatement. A better adjective is **brutal** ," Toriko said with a smile on his face.

"Heh?! Are you serious?!" The pink animal squealed happily as Komatsu's face was overcome with fear.

"They'll think you've abducted him, 100% chance."

"Ehhhh?!"

"Sorry Komatsu, but I don't think I can help you from two adult wall penguins. This is the end for you." You said, snickering slightly, still feeding it little scraps of meat.

"No! What do I do?!"

"Fufu... A baby penguin that got separated from his parents, huh....?"

"Match-san...."

"That sounds like a pain. Our real journey starts here. We need to retain our strength for the crucial time." He says, standing up and turning to his tent. 

"Have a nice rest, Match." Toriko says in response.

He took a second to respond. "Yeah." And he went inside the tent, closing it tightly.

Maybe you would have noticed the tone in his voice if it wasn't for the darn cute baby penguin next to you. 

"Um... You guys in Match-san's group..." Komatsu started, still holding the baby, "Why did you come to get the century soup...?"

They didn't reply, and glanced at each other, unsure of how to answer. 

_....Sensitive subject?_

"I just said that accidentally... I'm sorry, eheheheh...." 

"Nerg City." The one in the back started. "That's the city we live in."

A deeply buried memory came to the surface. Nerg city...? That's in Jidar Kingdom. 

_Jidar Kingdom..._

Your eye widened in realisation. _That's why he doesn't like you! Oh no, I shouldn't have chosen to be called Kelpie, it was just so natural to pick it! Of course, they're going to recognise the name 'Chef Kelpie'! Idiot! Idiot!_

"A slum, huh? The crime city, not affiliated with IGO, Nerg city. One of the poorest places in the continent."

_Toriko, please. I think this is a sensitive topic..._

"That's the lawless area where ingredients prohibited from being circulated are publicly marketed, isn't it?" Takimaru started, "they say 10% of prisoners in gourmet prison are said to come from Nerg City, the 'criminal producing factory'."

_Takimaru?! You too?! Don't you think that some of these things are unnecessary to say?_

"Pardon us... But it's still our home town where we were born in."

"Match took up this request for the reward money, it would seem. But, if were just for money, selling illegal ingredients, would get a higher percentage." Toriko says, eyeing the three men curiously.

"Of course. Vice boss plans to bring back the soup for the sake of children there with no families."

You stayed quiet.

"Us three were all originally street children... Filthy brats. Back then, the only one that answered our begging was him. Match-san." He smiled at the memory. "For us who just searched through for food scraps, Match-san was blessing us with a feast we'd never seen before."

"So the reason you guys entered the Gourmet Yakuza was because you're in his debt from that time..." Toriko says, breaking the silence that followed.

"We were saved with... with just a single feast... Though I may just be exaggerating. We returned from being hyenas back to human beings."

Komatsu spluttered, "T-then..."

"The ultimate evil is poverty. Children are the biggest victims of that." He clenched his fist in anger, shaking. "No matter how much we are hated by constitutional countries, at least we don't turn a blind eye to starving children. Match-san always says: 'The first thing is being fed. Being a good person or a bad person is after that.'"

_..._ _That was really heavy._

You couldn't even think of anything to say in response to this. Absolutely nothing came to mind. It seemed that everyone else felt the same.

"Yuun~"

Well, every human.

Komatsu pet the head, making it chirp quieter. "I-I think that wanting to give soup to children to eat is a wonderful idea! I'm sure that Mr Colonel will understand too!" He says, desperate to fill the silence.

"We've ever cared about what the old man thinks. We just wanted to know where the soup is."

"...But to go as far as facing such danger for a high-level ingredient..." Takimaru says.

"What about you Takimaru-kun?" Toriko asks, taking another piece of meat.

"Eh?"

"Do the gourmet knight know about this work? The century soup is far from the recommendations from the principal foods in the gourmet doctrine."

_Oh... That's why Takimaru's soup was so simple..._

Takimaru paused, then lowered his gaze. He let out a small puff of white air. "The other members don't know about this job..."

"I knew it... I thought that is was strange for you to be along for this kind of work. Especially for them to leave it to a young new member. Did you not tell a single member?"

"No...! I didn't even tell Aimaru-san... Even though he's the leader...!" he says, his thoughts seemed to be weighing down on him heavily for a long time.

"Then why?"

He cradles his hands in his lap. "I... I need money. A great deal of money... The country of healing: Life. I need money to buy medicine sold there."

"Medicine...?" Toriko echoed, finally speaking. "What kind?"

"A... medicine for curing diseases. One to cure any illness."

"In other words, helping someone, eh...?" One of Match's subordinates says. "You're the same as us."

"But surely Gourmet doctrine says that-"

"Yes. i know. It teaches us that one's life should be entrusted to nature. Using man-made medicines to fight against disease goes against it, but if it's all-natural, it won't go against the doctrine!" His eyes began to water, "I must get the medicine!" He shut it lips tightly, in a poor attempt to hold back tears. "I must...!"

You continued to stay quiet.

_I feel like... other people's reasons for the century soup is nobler than us just wanting to eat it..._

"Takimaru..." Toriko placed a hand on his back, "those tears have a value that won't lose to the century soup. The amount you cry is the amount you need to feel relieved."

_Komatsu needs to be relieved a lot in that case then._

"When you act for someone else's sake, people bring out their greatest strength. We'll all get our hands on the century soup! It's alright! I'm sure we'll find it!" He gives a wide smile, reassuring everyone. 

"Toriko-san..."

"By the way, Toriko-san, for what reason are you trying to find the soup?"

"Eh? I haven't said? It's because I want to eat it! That's all!"

You began to snicker at this, covering your mouth. _I can't believe that he's being so honest! Even after everyone else said such serious reasons!_

Everyone else started to join in, their moods lightening up. 

"No, Toriko-san is serious! It's not something to-" Komatsu was interrupted by the wall penguin pecking his cheek. "Stop it, you!" he scolded with no heat.

"Yun, yun!"

Toriko smiled brightly, "Hahahah! Komatsu, he's totally attached to you!"

"Look at the responsibility you've got now!" You added, still giggling. 

"Eh?! No, I don't want to! What do I do when the parents come?!"

"It'll attack you without hesitation." 

You continued watching the two of them talk, feeling felt out of the conversation. Not in a bad way! More like in a way that you're glad that Komatsu made a friend. Though you did feel you had feelings of envy buried deep down. 

Lost in your thoughts, you began to think about why Setsuno sent you on this trip. _Why did she send me...? There's not really a good reason why, Komatsu and Toriko could have gotten it easy. There was no need for me to come at all, it makes no sense...?_

Fluffy bit your hand. 

"Ouch! What do you want now...!" You hissed, picking them up by the scruff of their collar. "You just woke up and you're biting me already! You know, you're not usually this bitey." 

They squirmed out of your grip and jumped onto the ground. They waved their tail, indicating to you to follow you then ran off, blending into the snow carpet. "Eh?! Where are you going?" 

"Er, K-kelpie? What's wrong?" Takimaru asked as both Komatsu and Toriko was still talking. 

"Sorry! I need to go! If I don't come back, keep going without me!" You respond, flinging your bag on. 

"What?! Where are you going?!" Komatsu asked, finally noticing you leaving. His voice seemed so far away as you sprinted. 

You booked it after the furry bastard, running away from the camp. "Fluffy! Get back here! Fluffy!" You shouted, almost slipping on the snow and ice.

This was beyond strange behaviour, they never left away from you without notice and they never disobeyed you. 

"Fluffy!"

-

They were _still_ scrambling away from you. You still had no idea why they were behaving like this. 

"Fluffy, let's go back, what are you looking for...?" You called, following them aimlessly. 

They continued to ignore you but stayed still whenever you slowed down to let you catch up, then skipped ahead again.

"Flufffyy! Come on, tell me why you're doing this? Are you hungry or something?" You questioned as the two of you approached a small cliff. "What is it?" 

There wasn't anything strange about the cliff until you looked downwards. There was a small clearing of snow with two wall penguins there. They seemed to be panicked, running around in circles. 

"Oh! Did you want me to bring the baby wall penguin here?" You turned to Fluffy, who swished its ears back and forth. "...No? The what did you want me to do?"

Suddenly, they leapt on your head, "what do you want now-"

A loud howl interrupted you. 

You swooped down, hiding in the snow, crouching and looked down. The two penguins were currently fighting a man with... interesting clothing choices. Especially in this weather.

Naked. He was naked.

You wanted to leave but continued watching the situation, it seemed like the man was trying to eat the penguins. And no, you didn't continue watching because he was naked, you continued because you were concerned for the penguins. 

He lunged at them, bearing his teeth like a wolf. The birds hopped up and crushed him under their weight. 

_Ouch... To be fair what did he expect? They're adult wall penguins, they aren't going to take pity on you._

You picked up Fluffy and placed them in your bag, turning away, there wasn't anything to be done here. 

**"...uo fucking birds!"**

Snapping your head back, you saw he was lifting the penguin with his bare hands.

_How did he not get crushed?!_

He flung the bird onto it's back, roaring. It slid across the ice but got back up. The other penguin seemed to be furious at him, as it also jumped upwards to crush him. 

This time, he grabbed it's feet and threw it at the other penguin, knocking both of them onto the ground.

You felt something snap within you and jumped down to them without thinking.

When you landed, he turned around to you. "Who are you?"

_Fuck. Fuck._

You looked at him, now having a better view. He had dirty grey hair and striking yellow eyes. Towering over you, he was as tall as Toriko, maybe bigger, and had a very muscular body with a fair amount of body hair. 

"Uh, hi...?" You mumbled, "you should stop attacking the penguins. T-they just want to find their kid, if you leave them alone they won't hurt anyone...!" 

He glared sharply at you, "who do you think yer bossing around...?" 

_A-are those fangs?! They look like canine teeth!_

The two penguins glared at you warily, unsure of your intentions. They seemed to be willing to fight...

You cleared your throat. "Are you hungry...? If you need food I have some here..."

"Fuck off. I want fresh meat. Not something you picked up from the floor. Don't want your bullshit."

_Unnecessarily aggressive..._

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

He tilted his head, "Huh?!"

"I said: I can't let you do that." You took a deep breath of cold air, planting your feet firmly on the ground, "those animals are endangered. If you must hunt, pick an animal that isn't."

He walked over to you, his height now more clear than before. He smelt like blood. "I'll ask again. Who do you think you are. Ya some Saiseiya?" 

"Just a chef."

"A chef...? Run home why don't ya? You're bothering me."

"If you're going to hunt those penguins, I can't do that."

He scoffed, "what are you going to do? Fight me?"

You pulled Fluffy out of your bag, letting them know to leave the place. _Go bring the penguins to Komatsu and the others._

They nodded, and ran over to the pair, guiding them to safety.

"If I must, I will."

His teeth seemed to grow alarmingly bigger, and it smiled in excitement. "Go on then. Stop me."

**Boom!**

You flinched at the noise, but stayed still, not showing him any weaknesses.

_What was that?!_

It seemed to be far away from the echo of the explosion but still didn't reassure you in the slightest. 

"Ahh, that must be Tommyrod-sama..."

"Who?"

His smile grew more sinister, "He's the sous-chef of Bishokukai. Heard of us?" 

"No..."

"Is that so? I was ordered to kill anyone in my way." He licked his fangs, and flexed his hands, showing his claws. " **Anyone**." He growls, hunching his body over, his hands almost touching the floor. His skin grew furrier and his face contorted into a snout.

_....A werewolf._

"Don't worry, I'll make this quick." 

And, just like that, a wild battle between two animals began. 


	7. Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, there's blood here. I'm sure you'll already know, but this is Toriko. Don't worry, if you can handle the manga you can handle this.

Komatsu ran down the icy stairs, feeling the snow crunch underneath each step his feet made.

Just hours ago he was fighting for his life against the harsh weather conditions. Now he was running to finally get a taste of the soup, just enough soup for everyone to eat. For Toriko, Takimaru, Match, (Y/n)-

A chill went down his spine, and for once not from the cold.

Where were you?

Earlier, you had ran off from the group, trying to catch Fluffy. It was strange for them to run off so randomly, they usually listened to your every word, but he didn't think too much of it. After all, you would come back. Right?

Even after sleeping for a few hours, you still hadn't come back. Even after the explosion, you still hadn't come back. Did you run into an animal and was trying to befriend it? Did you run into another member of the Bishokukai before they did? Did you- Did you di-

He shook the thought. _Stay in the present._

All he has to do now is get the century soup. For the first time, Toriko was relying on him. It's the first time that Toriko seriously asked _him_ to do something.

He _can't_ let him down.

Surprisingly, he reached the bottom of the stairs quicker than he thought. There was a small beam of light shining into the opening of the staircase.

Upon arriving, he saw another room of ice, the size of a lecture room. Like all the other places in the mountain, there was also long pillars of ice supporting the ceiling above. He couldn't help but admire it's beauty, despite it being such a death trap, Ice Hell was truly stunning.

Scanning the room, he noticed a figure standing in front of a dipped area in the ground. _Is that a person?_ It suddenly turned around and charged at him.

"WAHH!"

He shielded his face from whatever attack it was going to throw at him. "I'm sorry!" he shouted, unsure if he was begging for forgiveness from the masked man or for Toriko, as he failed to get the soup.

When the pain didn't come, he slowly opened his eyes, confused. _They went behind me...?_

He looked to see what they were waiting for, noticing the attack stance it took. It wasn’t long that he saw why they did so. _G-gamura mosquitos!_

The man swiftly took action. It crushed both of them like... well bugs. They reopened their hands, letting the crushed form of the insects fall out.

_N-no way! Toriko-san struggled so much with the other bugs! How did he...!_

The peeled off their mask and let out a deep sigh. "I dunno how to use knocking on these things," he says idly, shaking off the fluids of the bug.

He turned around. The man had a green pompadour (reminding him of Jirou) and a large scar running over his eye, down to his neck.

"W-wha-"

"Shhh. Be quiet. You shouldn't talk. You won't be able to return home."

Komatsu stood there stunned, staring at the man, ignoring the buzzing sound that went past his ear. He blinked multiple times before speaking to him. "I won't be able to return home... you said..."

The man pulled out a little notepad, and wrote something on it, then showed him.

He stared at the scribbles. It was worse than your handwriting, which he didn't even think was possible. after a few seconds of rereading it over and over again, he understood. Thank goodness he had practice from reading yours.

_'Those suits are bugged.'_

“Don't say it out loud." He says, still showing him the notepad.

_...Really bad handwriting..._

"B-but, um... Is it true...?" Komatsu asked. _Are the suits really bugged?_

The man doesn't respond and instead gazes off into the distance.

_Eh... What's going on, is he ignoring me...?_

He seemed to notice his confusion. "The mouth is a catastrophic thing."

_Ah. I see._

_This guy is a weirdo._

Komatsu sighed to himself. At first, he thought that he kind of reminded him of you, from the quietness, the notepad/notebook and the horrible handwriting. But no. He was a different can of worms.

The man waves the notepad in front of him again, letting him know that he and something else to say.

Komatsu stood there trying to decipher the words, before finally realising what he meant.

_'The bug was planted by the client, Monroe Yakkoi. I checked, so there's no doubt about it.'_

_His handwriting is terrible, plus he got the client's name wrong!_

The man flipped the note over and wrote another message on it.

_Oh no. Please let this one be legible._

-

You glanced at the bite wound across the side of your torso.

Red stained your clothes.

Your legs buckled underneath you. You heaved.

You tried to get up. Tried.

"Heh, you gave it your best shot. Even if your weird attacks. Yer some sort of shapeshifter? I totally expected you to use your knife. Y’know, you being a chef and all."

Your eyes travelled upwards. Fixated on your attacker. Slowly losing your focus.

"Seems like you were talking..g big. Y.. never stood a ch...ce to begin with. I didn't even need to go ..to my .... mode." His voice began to fade, or maybe you just couldn't recognise that he was saying.

He was barely injured, you had basically done nothing to him.

_Useless._

You leaned on your elbows, trying to push yourself up. Nothing. You heaved another breath of air, pain piercing your lungs.

"Can't even answer me?"

_...Is this it...?_

Resting your eyes, you relaxed for just a second.

_You felt a pair of striking amber eyes on you. "Oh, dear..."_

The sensation was gone just as fast as it came.

"Whoa?! What the-" he shouted, and a loud splash of water followed.

The water stung your wounds on your face, you slowly opened your eyes.

"...Fluffy...?" You choked out, as more water splashed onto your face. Their form was breaking. The form of the arctic fox mushed, turning into liquid. Their sounds became more bizarre.

_Stay back.. It's dangerous here...!_

Fluffy let out some sort of screech, jumping onto your face in joy, engulfing it in water for a moment. The transparency of the water was affected, turning it red. You watched your blood swirl inside of them

You spoke, straining your throat. "I-it's s'okay, It's okay..." Your speech didn't even resemble words at this point.

They let out blubbering squeaks, trying to wipe the blood off your body. It hurt.

"Hm...? Is that a kelpie?"

Swiftly, Fluffy stood over you, finally acknowledging the danger from him. They dug their hooves into the ice, then reared, trying to stand their ground. Their form wasn’t even fully done yet, resembling a liquified horse.

The man sneered. "What? You're protecting her?" Fluffy snorted. “Well, I still have some time. I can play with you a little bit."

"...Fluffy... You need to go...!" You commanded, weakly pushing yourself up, arms trembling.

"Eh? you can still move? Don't worry, I'll get you after I kill your pet."

They hesitated, looking back at you, not wanting to disobey.

You gave them one look. "Leave. Now." Through the blurry haze, you noticed the man charging forth.

Fluffy felt their hooves leaving the floor as they were shoved aside. Their body fell onto the floor. They didn’t take the attack.

You did.

You couldn’t bear to look down at the wound, hearing the sickening quenching noise that followed.

" **Now**!"

You heard the sounds of whimpering and galloping away.

_Thank you._

"Oi. You aren't my prey. I'm after something else right now."

You wheezed, not even being able to identify the features of his face despite being so close. _Vision blurred_.

A loud mocking laugh. "Hehh, you can't even focus your eyes. You should have gotten your pet to help. At least you would have stood a chance."

You should have felt shame burbling under your skin. Or anger at the words this man was throwing at you. Anything. But all you felt in that moment was the feeling of hunger.

Your wound throbbed. And you bearded your fangs.

-

Komatsu found the last bowl. The final spoonfuls of soup.

It was even more beautiful than he imagined. The aurora was shining brightly in the wind, dancing with the breeze. He admired the view for a few seconds before finally pulling out his gourmet case and scooping it in.

After inputting the correct settings, he shut it tightly. securing it.

The mountain shook again, making him stumble, but he stood his ground. He's got the soup, now he has to protect it! _I got this!_

Suddenly, the ceiling shattered open. "WHA-"

He covered the case with his body, protecting it from any pieces of ice falling. After the initial shock, he raised his head, seeing what fell through.

It was a humanoid wolf that as lying on it's back, groaning in pain before shoving itself up again. "Fuckin... She's got gourmet cells?!" It grumbled.

_W-what is that?! How is it talking?!_

" **SKRAWWW**!"

A massive bird with dove into the same hole, extending its talons to seize the man. He quickly dodged it's claws, leaping out of the way. "...Shit! How is she not feeling the pain?!" He muttered under his breath.

_...She?_

The wolf’s feral eyes aimed at him. "Hey! You! You have the soup?!"

_Heck, heck!_

"N-no!" He clutched the case tightly, hiding it badly. The man-wolf seemed to weight it’s options, before deciding as the bird flapped its wings again. He snapped one of the icicles in the ground before flinging it at the bird.

"SKAWW!"

_Fuck! Fuck!_

Komatsu stumbled on his feet, going off on a clumsy head start as the man charged at him. A sharp pain coursed through his leg, immobilising him.

_H-he threw one at me too!_

Fortunately, it was shallow, he fumbled back upwards, determined to keep the soup in his possession. Too bad the wolf was faster. He was knocked down, his claws digging into his throat.

"L-let go! N-now!" He croaked out.

"Sorry, buddy... Tommyrod-sama would kill me if I just let you take the soup." His grip got tighter, and he raised his claws up high, preparing to strike. "though... Someone like you would die eventually. Just speeding up the process. **Only the strong survive.** " 

Komatsu kicked him fruitlessly, struggling in his grip. "Let go ofme-" His hand reached down to his knives, "let-"

The bird monster flew in, bashing the wolf off him. Its talons slammed into the floor. Spreading its wings, she shielded him.

_It- er, she's protecting me?!_

"Oi! Haven’t I given you enough attention already?!"

The first thing Komatsu noticed was that her feathers were soaked crimson. He stopped, staring at it, not quite knowing what to do. Not that they gave him an option, as the monster flapped her wings, droplets of blood flicked off it, as she took off again, driving her beak into the stomach of the werewolf.

Komatsu screamed, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight as it impaled the man. A broken screech echoed the frozen walls.

Then silence.

It was over so quickly.

The chef’s legs shook. He couldn't move, only stare as it was burned into his memory. The sound of his heartbeat thudded in his ears. His hands tried to steady it, scared that the bird— no, the monster would hear it. Hear him still alive.

Before, he’s seen animals kill, sure. He’s not new to blood, especially being a chef, working with ingredients, and his more recent hunts definitely exposing him to a lot more. Even going through many life-threatening situations an average person would not even dream of experiencing.

But the difference was that there was nothing to protect him.

It was just him and this wild beast.

The monster turned back around to him, the body still hanging there. It slid it off, letting it hit the floor-

The smell of iron was strong. He wanted to vomit.

Never, had he been so close to a human’s dead body. Never close enough to see the explicit details, never close enough to smell the blood, never close enough to touch, it, _taste it._

He quickly snapped his head upwards, looking it in the eyes.

It’s cold amber eyes.

"S-stop! Don't come any closer!" His hands grasped at his pockets, before yanking out a knife, clutching the case tightly. "D-don't come near me!" He weakly threatened, his bones shaking. His knife pointed upwards as he stayed on the floor, unable to pick himself up.

He glared back into its bright amber eyes, just for a moment, it looked... human.

It slowly blinked, then lowered it's head, carefully picking up the corpse then flapped its wings. Leaving.

A blood-stained feather fell.

Strangely, as he lowered his knife, he felt a pang of guilt in his heart over the rushing adrenaline.

-

You panted, slumping against the wall.

_What happened...?_

Memories came flooding in, but none of which you can remember clearly. Only seeing dark red in each scene in your head.

Wince.

A throbbing pain alerted you to the side of your torso, your hand clamped over it, before taking it off again.

A bite wound.

It was bigger than the size of your hand, in fact, it nearly reached the middle of your body. The blood stopped, but it's clear that it was a serious wound. It resembled a wolf's bite.

Wolf. Werewolf.

_"Yer some sort of shapeshifter?"_

You took your hand away from your torso and stared. Dark red.

_I don't understand what happened... I have perfect control over my powers..._

You curled and uncurled your hands. Suddenly, your nails looked longer, sharper. You lifted your head, staring into reflective ice in front of you.

_There's no way I would...!_

You stopped that thought, looking at your reflection.

Deep breaths. First things first.

_Where's Fluffy...?_

Wobbling over, you picked up your discarded bag. It had a few tears in it, but overall, it looked alright. You wondered when did you take it off.

A small whine came from inside, "...Fluffy?"

They peeked their head out, their eyes watering. They tackled your face, nuzzling you, _you're okay._

_They must have been hiding..._

You swallowed, holding them in your arms, clutching the fox tightly.

"(Y/N)!"

You didn't need to turn your head to know who it was.

"(Y/n)! Are you okay?! You're bleeding so much-"

_Your cold amber eyes._

_"S-stop! Don't come any closer!" His hands grasped at his pockets, before yanking out a knife, clutching the case tightly. "D-don't come near me!" He weakly threatened, his bones shaking. His knife pointed upwards as he stayed on the floor, unable to pick himself up._

Instinctively, you yanked your hand back. Digging your nails into your palm without thinking.

_...What was that...?_

"...(Y/n)-chan...? Are you okay...? Did I hurt you?" He looked at you, similarly to how one would look at an injured puppy. It should have been one how look at a wild dog.

"No, no. It's okay. It's okay." You reassured, waving your hands.

"Are... you okay, Komatsu?" His face had a few scrapes but overall looked okay.

"Of course! Where have you been? Also what happened to your rider suit?! Why are your clothes fine but the suit isn't? Everyone's been looking for you the best we can!"

"To be honest... I'm not too sure." You tried to laugh, but the pain throbbing in your torso stopped you. "Did you get the century soup?"

His mood suddenly changed, along with his face. "The century soup..."

"Uh, 'Matsu...? Ya okay?" It didn't look natural in the slightest. "You're... making a really weird smile..."

A loud rumble echoed through the mountain. "What's that? Do they get earthquakes here...?"

He snapped back to normal. "We have to go, come on!" He reached for your hand, then pulled back, opting to just let you follow him instead. You followed.

The taste of blood was strong in your mouth.

-

"Are you sure this is the way?"

"I don't knOW-" Your friend narrowly dodged a falling piece of ice, "Oh God! I hope this is the right way!"

"Komatsu-kun! Over here!" A voice shouted, looking up, it was Toriko.

The two of you ran up the slope, escaping the crumbling ice. The light blinded you temporarily as you exited the mountain. Everyone was also there, along with someone else. A man with green hair stared back at you.

_...Who's this?_

"Good, is that everyone?" he says, turning to face Komatsu.

"Yeah! We can go now!" Komatsu replies, "that's Teppei, he's a Saiseiya!"

"Oh... Alright..." You nodded at him, greeting him.

"Hey, hey, hang on. There ain't a ship is there?" Match pointed out, looking into the wide empty sea.

"Huh?! Are you sure?" Toriko asked, carrying Takimaru on his back. The gourmet knight was covered from head to toe in a green bandage. In fact, so was Match's subordinates. Teppei was carrying one of them, and Match held the other two.

_Did green hair do that? I don't think anyone else could bandage here..._

A small nervous chuckle, "Guys... See, the truth is..." Teppei tried to laugh before explaining.

\---

"EHH?! THE BOAT LEFT?!"

"Probably..."

"That old man..." Match rumbled, his eyes darkening.

"There's no helping it. Nobody knew about the listening devices..." Komatsu tried to soothe him, talking calmly.

"Eh?! So you mean can't get home?!" Toriko shouted, still can't believe his words.

_This is a great turn of events... I mean, it's not that bad for me... Fluffy could just fly me back..._

You sighed.

_I'm really tired... That fight must have taken a lot out of me._

"It seems like there's no choice to swim home... Doing the butterfly!" Teppei says.

"That's impossible, we've got a lotta injured people!" Zongeh retorted.

_Oh, I didn't even notice that he was there..._

"If you guys, don't mind we could just get a whale and ride it back or something." You suggested.

"Where are we going to find a whale?!"

"It was just a suggestion..."

"Huh? What's that?" Toriko asked, looking upwards.

As it got closer, you could begin to make out details. Pink, see-through, a jellyfish...?

_Limousine Jellyfish? Aren't they kinda rare?_

"C-could it be?!" Teppei seemed to instantly recognise it.

"Hellloo~" chimed a voice.

_...Is the jellyfish speaking?_

"Heyy~ I came to pick you up!"

_S-Setsuno?!_

The creature lowered its tentacle, showing the ridges impeded into it, resembling a staircase. The texture of it was squishy but solid enough to walk on top of it. Toriko and Komatsu rushed up the stairs, while you cautiously walked up it, careful not to fall off.

You didn't like the fact that even the floor was see-through, making you slightly scared. Your companion seemed to agree, as Fluffy hissed at it, their fur sticking up. It's not very nice to imagine that you're suspended above the ground stories in the air with nothing to hold you.

_How is this even flying?_

Climbing up the ladder, you saw a round table full of food on top of it. You sat cross-legged on the floor, next to Komatsu and started eating. Fluffy jumped down from your shoulder, curling up on your lap, clinging tightly.

\---

After everyone sat down and started to relax, Setsuno spoke up. "When I heard that Yosaku didn't go to ice hell after I asked him to, I thought I'd come to this island and search for Toriko and you all..." She explained.

Teppei's face suddenly fell.

"By the way... Why are you here, Teppei?" Setsuno asked. He didn't answer. "Silence?!"

"Uh, uhm... It seems that my master was, uh, tied up with reviving an important ingredient... So I went instead... Hahah... Isn't it funny how things work out...?" He murmurs, grinning nervously at her.

"Important ingredient? One that takes so much priority a request from me would be left to an apprentice? What was it? Hm?" She prodded.

"It... It's an ingredient concerning **Bishokuya Acacia**! I don't know any more than that!"

_...Acacia? That's...!_

"Hmph. So he's curious too." Setsuno stated. "So? What happened to the vital show window?"

\----

"I see... Well, well... It was quite a bloody battle, everyone..."

"Hehe, it wasn't bad." Toriko brightened up, beaming. "Komatsu will make the soup! And we've all had your cooking, Young Lady Setsuno, so we're all in perfect shape now!"

"With your arm missing? There's a chance that it could be healed."

"EH?! SERIOUSLY?!"

"If we go to the country called Life. It's a small possibility, but there is one." Takimaru jolted upwards, now paying full attention. "We have others here with serious injuries... So it'd probably be best to hurry. And even that skilled saiseiya we have here..." Setsuno stopped, looking at Teppei, unimpressed as his face warped into one of pure smugness. "That weird guy, who's laughing right now, his master is in that country." She glanced over to Zombie, "and we have some unrelated guys too."

"Hey! Who are you calling unrelated-"

"Komatsu-kun, will you make the soup?" Setsuno cut off.

A fire was lighted in your friend's eyes, and he smiled widely, determined. "Yes! I'll give it my best shot! I will make the century soup!"

"Alright then!" She stomped on the semi-transparent floor, jolting the creature into movement. "To the country of Healing, Life!"

Looking out one of the windows, you saw that the jellyfish is now travelling really fast, despite that, you didn't feel any change. You resumed eating, eating faster than normal. Was it because the food was good?

For the rest of the trip, you just stuck near Komatsu, blinking tiredly after you finished eating. It seemed whatever fight you had been in had taken a lot out of you. In fact, you had been so tired that you just feel asleep.

\---

"Heyyy! Wakey, wakey!" A feminine voice said as you groaned. "Oi, you need to wake up now, I have places to be!"

You opened your eyes, "Setsuno-san...?"

"Yep." She walked away, leaving your line of vision. "We're at your house."

You jolted upwards, "Huh?! What?!" Getting up, you looked out the window, confirming her words. "When did we- How did we-" You swirled your head around frantically before your eyes landed on her. "I'm so sorry!" You bowed, "I didn't mean to be so rude! I don't know what came over me!"

"Now, now. I'm not angry." She smiles, "we're only just arrived. I dropped Komatsu-kun off at his restaurant, and the others at Life."

"Is that so...?" You rubbed the back of your neck, "thank you for dropping me off. I'll be leaving now... G-goodbye." Turning around, you quickly tried to go towards the stairs.

"Bye-bye! Get some good sleep!"

"Actually..." You paused, already fully down. "Can I ask you something...?"

She heard you, and walked over to the top of the stairs, looking down on you as she spoke. "Of course, dear."

"Um... Why did you make me go to get the century soup...?"

"Did I not tell you? So you can ensure that you get the century soup."

"But, from what I heard, we didn't even get the century soup, and we had to destroy the show window to even get a drop..."

"I wasn't talking about _that_ century soup."

"Huh?"

She turned to you, with the same smile as before, "(Y/n)-chan, do you truly believe that if you recreate another chef's dishes, that it will be exactly the same?"

"No..."

"Why is that?"

"Because..." You chose your words carefully, "each chef is unique, no matter how much you try, it will never be exactly the same if you recreate something of theirs. Cooking is an extension of the chef themselves." Your cheeks flushed at your own words, slightly embarrassed at how cheesy it sounded.

"Then, do you think that Komatsu-kun's will be the same century soup he tasted at Ice Hell?"

"No... But that still doesn't answer my question. He can create it himself, I'm not necessary."

"Then let me take it back a little bit more. Would you agree that anything can influence a dish?"

"Yes...?"

"Even people?"

"I... don't see why not?"

"Then you already know the answer to my question."

"W-what do you mean?" She grinned down at you, then retracted the stairs. "H-hey! Why are you leaving?!" You fruitlessly grasped at the air, trying to pull her back.

"You're smart! I know you can figure it out!" She shouted back, poking her head out the window.

You lowered your hand, "I can't believe that she just left me like that..." A smile graced your face, as Fluffy peeked out of your bag. "Do you want some dinner?"


	8. Buried In the Snow

You packed your bag, checking over everything and slung your bag around with the thermos tightly attached. 

Today was the day. 

You picked up the little plant pot, securing it inside another bag and closed the door behind you, readjusting your winter coat one last time.

Today was the day.

You smiled sadly at Fluffy who just burbled quietly at your expression, sitting in their thermos. 

"Okay, let's go." You placed the bottle on the grass, "could you pick an animal? Anyone that can fly will do." He huffed as slid out, shifting into another animal. "Oh! They're getting more accurate, good job!." You state, looking at the feathers in your hands.

Today _was_ the day.

-

It's not most days that Coco would come unprepared, to anything, really. Every day, he double-checks what he needs for that day. Whether it'll be a standard day of fortune-telling, or a request for an ingredient, hell, even on his days off, he wants to be prepared for it. This came easier considering that he could usually predict what he needed that day.

Unfortunately, this was one of those days where he couldn't even come prepared. 

He felt his skin become increasingly dry as he exhausted his supply of poison. 

He felt his vision worsen as the blizzard kept blowing, something he had almost always relied on was slowly starting to slip away from him. 

There was no time to breathe, there was barely any time to think, and he had ran out of time to act. 

He could hardly even see the two people who had defeated him as they shoved him off the cliff, their laughter echoing his ears

He whistled, pleading that his faithful companion would be able to save him. To feel his thick fluffy feather's under his fingers again. His eyes darted back and forth through the white sky, looking for even the slightest drop of black.

He wasn't there.

He briefly remembers telling Kiss to stay on the outside of the mountains due to the dangerous conditions. 

_"I'll be back, boy, wait here for me. Okay?"_

Today should have just been an easy hunt.

The numbing cold water shallowed him whole, biting at his wounds. He tried to swim, thrash, move, anything! 

But the water pulled him deeper. 

He tried to take a deep breath, desperate for any kind of relief.

But only water came in. 

The warmth in his skin was slipping away with the currents. His body desperately gathered all of the heat it could to keep his organs working. 

_If I were to end here, how long would it take for someone to realise...?_

More water filled his lungs as his head dipped under the river. 

Realistically, hunts can take days, it wouldn't be surprising if no one noticed his disappearance until a week later. His fortune regulars would be suspicious first, then IGO, then it would finally reach his family. After that, they would never find his body, it would be buried in the snow. His death would be classed as a suicide, as entering any danger zone is a death wish. And that's the end of it.

_I just want someone with me._

He didn't know where the sudden sense of longing came from as the water gripped him tighter. Perhaps he just didn't want to leave Kiss by himself for no one to take care of him, perhaps he just wanted someone near him in his final moments. 

He prayed for someone to come. Even if there was no God to hear his appeal.

But who would even listen?

Apparently, someone, as he heard distant cries and frantic splashing approach him as he blacked out in the cold waters. 

**"..co! ..co!"**

-

His skin felt like it was on fire. Every nerve in his body felt like it was in pain.

But, ever so gently, he felt warmth come back into his body. Not the kind the would set him ablaze, but the kind that would come from a blanket embracing you. 

"...Hmm... How hot should it be...?" He could barely recognise the words that were being said, he tried opening his eyes, feeling the fatigue set in. Still, he forced his bleary eyes open.

"..ello...?" He croaked out, looking up at his surroundings. He was in a... cave? He tried moving his body, biting back a yelp of pain when sitting upright.

"Oh! You're awake!" His ears rung at the voice, letting out something akin to a strangled whimper. It wasn't loud by any means, but it reminded him of when Zebra's gourmet cells first started developing. "...oh, sorry, sorry... I didn't mean to be that loud..."

"No, no. I'm fine." He winces, not believing his own words. he looked at the other person in the room. "...(Y/n)-san?"

You sent him a nervous smile before turning back to the little pot above a small campfire. "Mhm, you feeling okay?" You had a flushed face, your hair was slightly damp.

_She must have jumped in..._

"I've felt better, thank you." He glanced down on what was on him. It was your coat, you must have put it on him to try to trap heat. However, it did a poor job considering it only covered two-thirds of his torso, reminding him of how small _normal_ people were compared to him. 

You nodded, still not making eye contact with him, keeping your attention on scooping out the soup, filling the cup. "here, drink some soup." He noted that you were speaking quietly.

"Ah... Thank you..." He repeats, taking the lid of the thermos from you. It was small in his hands. It looked so much bigger in yours. He keeps the coat in his lap, noting the blanket under him and the floor. You must have also placed that down.

"So... Mind telling me why I found you half-frozen in the river?"

"...."

"Oh, you don't have to if you don't want to! I'm not curious!" You whisper-shouted, still keeping quiet.

"No, I'll tell you. I was attacked by two Bishyoukais, and they had cornered me off a cliff, where I fell into a river."

"Was there a werewolf?"

He blinked, "No, why? It was two GT robots."

You shuffled uncomfortably, "No reason, do you know why did they fight you?"

He didn't push it. "No idea, in fact, I hadn’t even realised they were there until it was too late. Most likely, they're after ingredients. However, I don’t believe there's anything worth that much around here." He took a sip of the soup.

A gentle explosion of flavours went off in his mouth.

He pulled back from the cup, needing a moment to process it.

"Ah, sorry... Is the flavour a bit strong? I tried to make something that would wake you up, but also easy on the stomach." you say, observing his expression. "Would you like me to remake it?"

"Never...! It's fantastic...!" He continued drinking, feeling more refreshed.

Your cheeks flushed the slightest bit red, maybe it was from the cold. "Oh, would you like seconds?"

He looked down, realising that it was empty, cleared his throat. "Yes please..."

Your hands brushed against his fingertips, and only then did he realise just how cold his body really was. 

"Speaking of soup. Have you heard about the century soup?" You ask, handing back the filled cup. he was careful not to touch your hands this time. 

"Of course I have. I heard all about your journey to Ice Hell with Toriko and Komatsu-kun."

You spluttered, "Eh? What? How?"

"I visited Toriko last week. He told me everything that happened, though I couldn't understand half of his words, considering he was also eating while talking."

You laughed brightly, seeing the image as clear as day before asking, "How’s his arm?"

"It seems that he's recovering well. Apparently, he’s regrowing his arm back faster than any patient ever seen before."

"That’s good to hear."

He took a sip, "What about the recreation of the century soup? I assume no difficulties?"

"As for the soup, Komatsu is losing sleep over making it, but he's definitely making progress quickly. But... It's a bit tiresome trying to find some of the ingredients though... Being a Bishokuya is so exhausting... How do you do it?" You sighed, looking tired just by thinking about it.

He raised his eyebrow. _She's been hunting the ingredients?_ "

Well, if it helps, being a chef is also very taxing for us." He says, "So, you've been hunting instead of hiring a Bishokuya? How come?"

"Yeah... Technically, it's not officially approved by the hotel yet, so 'Matsu can't get the funding to hire one. He wanted to get started right away, so he’s just been using his own money to buy some of the ingredients and stuff. They've just been turning a blind eye to him working away at it as long as the food served doesn't suffer for it."

"That’s a shame... I’m sure they’ll accept it soon."

"I hope so. I've just been running back and forth this whole time. I'm losing sleep and I barely get to cook on my own stuff anymore, I just-" You stopped. "Ah... I'm complaining, sorry, sorry." 

"No, it’s okay. No need to apologise... In fact, I think I have to apologise to you."

"Huh? Why?"

"While visiting, Toriko also told me that you have a kelpie."

Of course, he did. Well, no big deal. Other people knew, one more can’t hurt. "Okay...? I still don’t understand why you need to."

"Do you not remember that told me that you caught a kelpie?" 

Ah.

_"I see. Then why did you choose to catch one? It doesn't seem worth the trouble, they aren't really edible."_

_"I didn't catch one to eat them!" You gripped your bag defensively, and he instantly caught onto your vocal tone, making him blink in confusion. Your voice got a fraction louder. "There were rumours that they attacked students that got too close to the lake. And if they were going to-"_

"Am I wrong in assuming that they're the same animal?" 

"Uh... No, b-but you don't have to say sorry, it's an honest mistake, you haven't done anything wrong! I’m not too upset over it!"

"Are you sure...? Because after I said so, you gave me the most serious death glare I've received in a while."

Your face reddened and you quickly cupped your cheeks, desperate to cover them. "Did I?! I'm so sorry!"

He chuckled, "no, please. It was shocking at first to see you like that, but after the shock, it's rather amusing to see such a dramatic change in attitude." 

You heard Fluffy snicker inside of your bag.

"Really, I'm sorry for being so aggressive. I didn't mean to give you such a nasty look... I mean, I shouldn't be giving death glares to anyone, but," A noise of frustration came out, unable to properly articulate your thinking.

At first, he waited for you to finish, but when it became clear you couldn't, he continued. "I can understand how you feel. If someone even implied anything even remotely close to eating Kiss, I would be furious."

You blinked, "Kiss?" _Like the chocolate, or... I'm not interested in you that way, sir._

Suddenly, he seemed to brighten up, even just slightly, as he straightened his back and the corners of his lips quirked upwards. "You don't know Kiss, but he's part of my family."

"Oh? One of your parents? Or one of your siblings?"

"No... He's an Emperor Crow." He smiled fondly. "I raised him from an egg."

You gasped. "An Emperor Crow!"

He remembered the reactions of people when they first saw the beast flying over the houses, triggering the alarm. "Oh, there's no need to be scared of him, he's friendly-"

"An Emperor Crow!" You cheered, "can I meet him? Is he afraid of people? How big is he? What's his diet like?"

He stared back in shock. Lost for words. "Uhm..."

You pulled yourself back, not realising that you got closer to him with each question asked. "Oh! Sorry, sorry. I just get a little... Excited..."

_Just how many times do you intend to make an embarrassment of yourself?_

He answers all of your questions, not missing a single one. "Yes, you can meet him. No, he's not afraid of people, though he's not the most welcoming. He's about 3 meters tall right now, and he likes to eat fruit the most. However, he also likes game."

"Fruits...!" Suddenly, you had your notebook out, your hand moving swiftly across the page. "When you say game, do you mean rabbits and deer?"

He took note of how fast you were writing. "Yes."

_She must really like animals..._

"I see..." You seemed to be sketching something. "Can I give him something to eat?"

"You don't even know when you'll meet him."

"Urk... Um, when would you be free...?"

He suppressed his laugh, seeing the devastated expression on your face. You just seemed so... genuine. Almost unable to hide how you felt. "Well, I don't mind. How about today?"

You clapped your hands together. "Really?!"

"If you leave here with me, we're bound to see him on the outskirts regardless."

"Oh! Let's go now!" You jumped up, your bag swirling around as you went to the exit. "I don't have anything to give him, but I still want to meet him!"

"Now?"

"Now! Ah!" You turned back around, looking worried. "Are you still feeling your injuries...? I'm sorry, I shouldn't rush you..."

"I'm fine," he stood up, showing his healed wounds. "Gourmet cells. It seemed that your soup was enough to heal this time."

You began to tidy up, Coco sped up the process greatly, folding the blanket you laid under him. "Well then, this way."

"Also, I must clarify, I wasn't actually scared of your glare, so there's no need for you to apologise. No harm done." Coco says, joining you in the snow. It had slowed down significantly. 

You lifted your head, "what? You think I can't kill you?" You jest.

He raised his eyebrow, "I think that you would even be able to hurt me." He looked directly into your eyes, "unless you would like to prove me wrong...?"

"Listen, you're injured right now, I bet I could win easily."

"Oh?" An amused look, "but you won't, even if you could."

"...What is it about me that people think that I won't or can't hurt them?!" You frustratedly said, ignoring more of Fluffy's snickers from your bag. "I'm strong too!"

His smile grew wider, "I wasn't doubting you, but your demeanour is just very..." _comforting._ "meek."

You slumped your head down, "Ngh... That's how it always is."

"Don't feel down about it, it's not a bad thing..."

You perked back up, "actually, a lot of people used to think I was really cold or scary in my old workplace. So much so that they would avoid me." You finished with a nervous laugh.

He blinked repeatedly. "Really? I can't imagine that..."

"Yeah, though my senpai found it funny." You grumbled, "he always tease me about it when it happened..."

"Hm, maybe you changed since then...? I really don't see a reason why anyone would find you scary..."

"I don't think I went through any major changes... Oh!" Your face fell, "I need to take a bit of a detour..."

"That's alright, I'll come with you."

"You... Probably don't want to..."

"No, I'll come with you. I'm not sure if the Bishyoukais are still around, it'll be safer if I stayed close."

"O-okay..." 

The two of you walked in silence until you reached a certain point. "Can you stay here...?"

He noticed the tone of your voice. "Of course, don't go too far."

You walked away, leaving him and approached a stone protruding out of the ground. Far enough from Coco.

"Hello... How have you been?" You crouched down. "I brought you something. You like flowers, right?"

Taking out the flower, it shut it's red petals tightly, defending itself from the snow. "I know that you don't like bouquets, it being dead and all. So I brought you live ones." You take it out of the pot, replanting it next to the smooth. Next to several other red flowers.

You stayed still, now leaning your arm against the smooth rock. Fluffy listened to you ramble on and on about whatever came to mind, filling the deathly silence. 

"Then, I met someone named Coco and Toriko, they're both nice. Coco is right there behind me. Don't worry, he's too far to hear us."

Nothing.

"I went on a trip with Toriko and Komatsu the other week. It was hard." You kept talking, "And I met Setsuno the other day! I completely forgot that I ever met her, I guess my memory isn't very good compared to my brother. Heh... What do you think?"

Nothing.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, anyways, on the trip, Fluffy and I went to Ice Hell. It's a lot colder there! I wish I could show you." You cleared your throat. "So then, we tried to find the century soup, and we did!"

Still nothing.

"And right now, Komatsu is trying to recreate-" You choked up. "Sorry, you must be busy. I'll go now." 

You didn't lift your head as you walked back over, "Ah... Sorry, I took longer than expected." You stated, not looking up. Not wanting to meet his eyes. "Shall we go...?"

"It's... okay to cry." He states, unsure how to comfort you. It was clear you were sad. It was clear that you were in need of comfort. Maybe help. But just because you know the problem, doesn't mean you can do anything about it.

You gave him a pained smile, "It's nothing. Let's go." Not waiting for him, you strolled on.

Coco's eyes glanced back at the stone, reading the writing from afar. The name and time were smudged out from time, but some of it was still readable. _'...loved by family. The brightest man of the century. You were the biggest inspiration in our lives.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a bit worried I'm making Coco OOC, yikes.


	9. Lake House

"Komastu-kun, are you busy next week?"

He wasn’t even listening to you and was dicing the vegetables to add to the stock of the century soup. You sighed before trying to gain his attention again, this time louder. "Komastu!"

"Ah!" He almost dropped his knife in shock, then looked over to you, "Don’t scare me like that! What is it?"

"I said: are you busy next week?" You asked while cutting open the rose oysters open, and cleaning them out. Since you were free, you might as well help out a little here.

"Yeah... I’m probably be trying to make the century soup until it’s done."

"Hm, okay."

He noticed your disappointed look, "Uh, why are you asking me?"

You sighed, "I need to go hunt the cloud fruit; as per your request. And the journey up to get there is quite a while. You need about a week or so to get up there, and I don't wanna be eaten while I sleep. Can we take turns sleeping and watch out for danger?" 

"So you wanted me to go because... You're afraid of getting eaten?" He asks, recalling many, many instances where you have put yourself in more danger than that. Much more danger.

"Yes, exactly so." Your tone was strangely proud.

"...And why can’t you ask someone else? I'm not exactly the epitome of 'strong', I'm sure you know that."

You paused, before answering. "Because you’re my only friend? And it's okay if you can't-" Komatsu gave you a look of pity, which made you change topics. "Don’t give me that look, it makes me feel worse for myself. Also, this is your soup! You should hunt with me!"

"I can’t help it! Every time you talk about your personal life it makes me sad! It's so lonely!"

You gasped in offence at his words. "My life is _not_ that sad! I live in a house far away from the nearest town, but close enough to the cafe that I can walk over." You punctuated your point by raising your index finger. "And I live by myself, my only company is Fluffy, my animal companion. It’s practically my childhood dream house!" You finished, raising your another finger, then turned your hand around.

He blinked repeatedly in disbelief. "My childhood dream house was to live in a sweets house shared with all my friends and I could cook every day, didn’t have any friends when you were younger?"

You opened your mouth, about to retaliate, but then thought about his words. "I had my brother... Ah, but he was always talking to people, and never joined me when I went to find animals. You know him... That's how he always is."

"Doesn't he count as family, not a friend...?"

"Umm... I had a pen pal..." Sighing dreamily to yourself, you look downwards. "I wonder how he’s doing..."

"This is getting depressing, back to what we were saying before, just get someone else. It's not like I can actually do anything by being there. And you're pretty good at avoiding animals."

"Yeah, but does anyone else have the patience to deal with me for a week? That's a no."

He looks at you, and for once, you finally get a clear view of his face. Dark eye bags, it's clear that he's been overworking himself already. When was the last time he got a full night's rest? And it's not like you could tell him to sleep, that's straight-up hypocrisy. "(Y/n)-chan, don't say-" 

You cut him off, shaking your head, rethinking your choice. "Ah, forget it... I'll just brave it for a week and get it over with..."

* * *

You flipped the steak over, searing the sides nicely. Turning off the pan, you left it there leaving it to cook just a bit longer to scoop a bowl of rice. Then, you flipped the steak into the blue bowl, letting it land perfectly onto the rice. It's juices leaked onto the rice, coating it.

_Eh, acceptable._

Placing the bowl on the table, you walked back to the pan, picking it up to clean before a polite knock interrupted you. 

_What the heck? I don't get letters, I'm too far away from town. And I don't even need to think about visitors..._

Walking over and getting on your tiptoes, you peeked through the door. 

_Never mind. I'll have to cross the last one off._

Fumbling with the keys, you opened the door, "Why are you here, Coco-san?"

He smiled at you, "Good morning, (Y/n)-san. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No... You're not disturbing me. All chefs wake up at this time." Your eyes avoided his. "Do you need something?" 

_How did you know where I live? Did Komatsu tell you? I bet he did..._

You sighed to yourself quietly, careful that Coco couldn't hear. 

_'Matsuuuu... I'm not mad, just disappointed._

"I came here for two reasons..." He revealed your coat, neatly folded. "To return this. You forgot to take it back after we parted ways."

That was a polite way to put it. In reality, after you finished your 'business', the two of you continued walking until you reached the bottom in complete silence. You couldn't think of anything to say and just left him when the snow disappeared. Not even meeting Kiss. That was the biggest regret.

You took it from him. "Thank you..." It smelled different. Did he clean it? 

Your eyes trailed back up to his features, well-groomed. Like a... raven. Yeah. They were clean animals. They cleaned themselves. And he's not a crow because they tend to prefer cities. Coco seems to like the more quiet places. Not to mention, he seems quite smart too. Ravens are in the corvid family, which means they're capable of problem-solving. Oh since ravens and crow are in the same family, then-

He blinked multiple times, Coco wondering what you were thinking about, seeing that you didn't hear his question. Despite being right in front of you. You had a dreamy look in your eye, as you blanked out. "(Y/n)-san...?" 

You snapped out of your train of thought. "Yep?"

 _She really didn't hear anything I just said..._

He cleared his throat. "As I was saying, the second reason I came here is that Komatsu asked me to accompany you to hunt the cloud fruit." 

_I know you mean well, but I would much rather do it by myself then to do it by myself... Not to mention I've already embarrassed myself so many times in front of you..._

Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of your nose. You offered: "Would you like to come in?" Unsure how else to continue.

He blinked in surprise. "If you don't mind." 

You stepped aside, letting him in, then closed the door. Letting the lock make a small 'click'.

_...Is this the first time a non-friend entered my house?!_

"You can sit here in the meantime. Would you like tea or anything?" You said, trying to think of what would be appropriate to say. 

_No. You fished him out of a river. If that doesn't make someone a friend, I don't know what does._

"There's no need. Thank you."

_But what if he doesn't feel the same? What if the feeling ain't mutual? What if he's only tolerating me because of Komatsu? Wait did he say he wanted tea or not?_

Your hands trailed over the jars of dried leaves. 

_To be safe, I'll just make him a cup... If he doesn't want it, I'll say that it's for me._

As you paced your kitchen, he glanced down at the table. _She's a chef... I wonder what she made for herself. I heard that chefs tend to keep most of their more strange dishes at home._

A small smile crept up his lips, seeing the items on top. "...I must ask, are you eating steak and rice for breakfast?" He says, looking at the big bowl of food on the table. It looked more like lunch or dinner.

Your head peeked out. "Yes?"

"At..." He looked around the place trying to find a clock. "6:00 AM?"

"...Yes?" You answer back, your mind no longer filled with worries. 

He seemed stunned but shook his head. "It's a... rather hearty breakfast, but I trust you know what's best for yourself."

"I know, but I've been craving a lot more food lately. " You say, walking back into the kitchen. 

Coco stood uncomfortably around the table, before deciding to sit down. It seems like this would take a while... right? _(Y/n)-san won't mind, right? It would be worse to just stand up awkwardly the whole time... Right?_

Meanwhile, you were trying to figure out the best possible tea to pick for him. Asking him feels too awkward, what if you don't have the tea he wants? What then? What if he doesn't actually want tea? You can't risk it.

You pulled out the jars from the cupboard and lined them up, it was filled with tea leaves. You stared at each of them with scorn.

_What the heck would he like?_

A while passed of you just staring at the jars. Then you grew impatient.

It came down to a game of random chance, you didn't know enough to know what kind of tea he would like. Closing your eyes and gripping a random jar.

_Oh, chamomile tea... Not bad I guess. It reduces menstrual pain..._

Internally, you slapped yourself, refraining from making any actual sounds in case it would alert your guest.

 _What a fantastic thought! Especially considering that he has a penis!_

Fuck it. You spent too much time in here for Coco to get suspicious. It's going to reduce his imaginary menstrual pain whetherhe likes it or not.

\---

Coco looked around the place. It was... peaceful. There was a bookcase filled with random assortments in between every few books. Jars filled with some sort of purple liquid, a ripped bit of bark, an horn; it seemed to be mementoes of your journeys. Apart from one. Poorly made clay animals, there was a cat, fox, badger and a stag. He noticed that you had put small scarves around each of them. Cute.

Upon closer inspection, none of the books was actually written by authors. All of them was notebooks, all filled to the brim. He wondered what was inside, but, naturally, he wouldn't look inside without permission.

Next to the bookshelf was an over-filled drawer, it wasn't much neater than the bookshelf. Having bits sticking out of the drawers: animal fur, dried flowers, a butterfly wing the size of his hand. On top of the drawer was your chef certificate framed and a picture of you in a chef's outfit, smiling brightly, holding the certificate. The next picture was the same, but this time, you were being glomped by a man shorter than you, he was also smiling proudly, maybe even bigger than yours. Then again, but joined by Komatsu (he was also wearing his chef clothes) and the man. This time, he had a clearer look at him. Same face shape as yours. 

His eyes wandered, there was a family photo hung up on the wall. It was a silly scene, a small girl was being pelted by a snowball in the face by a boy your age, falling backwards. Meanwhile, the boy had the biggest grin he had ever seen, laughing loudly. In the background, there was a man running over, extending his arms to catch the girl. The woman taking the picture had the most unimpressed expression he could imagine, her face taking up a quarter of the photo as she held it up. 

He chuckled, remembering how he would sit back with a book and watch the snowball fights his brothers started, only stepping in when Zerba started burying them in the freezing snow. Then he would take a picture to savour the moment before helping them.

You placed the cup down on the counter, gaining his attention. Your eyes followed his, noticing the mess you had completely forgotten about. "Ah, sorry. My house is kinda messy..."

He shook his head, "It's fine." His eyes looked into the cup, "You like chamomile tea?"

"It's for you."

_Shit. Did he not ask for tea? Plan B, plan B!_

"Y-you don't have to drink it! I'll drink it!"

"It's okay, you went through the trouble of making it. Thank you." He took the cup, drinking it. "I heard that chamomile tea can help you sleep better." _Though it never helped me._ _  
_

"I see..." 

_Oh, so there's more benefits... Of course, there are more benefits._

The two of you sat in silence.

"Uh, so were you free today?"

"Well, today I don't have any fortunes. And I don't have anything particularly important coming soon."

"I see..." Another silence. "Why... do you want to help me?"

"You pulled me from a freezing cold river, I think I have to do _something_ to repay you."

"Ah... I see." 

_He's doing this out of obligation._

When you finished eating, you took the bowl back into the kitchen, washing it. Then left the house, picking up the bag in the way.

Rustling through the contents, you double-checked everything. "One second... I need to pick up Fluffy..."

"Fluffy?"

You grinned to yourself, walking towards the lake "the kelpie." they peeked their head out, then ducked it back underneath when seeing Coco. "Hey, it's okay." They cautiously resurfaced, stalking over to you, their hooves digging into the ground. "Say hello."

"It's nice to meet you, Fluffy. My name is Coco." He observed the creature deeply. They stuck close to you, staring back at the man.

"N-no. I was talking to Fluffy-" You waved your hand, "ah it's okay. They're just a bit... Shy." _Distrustful is the word._

 _But..._ You looked back at your pet, who turned their head away from Coco. _I think that the fact that Fluffy can even be this close is pretty good... Took Komatsu forever to even be able to look at them in the eye without thinking that he's challenging them..._

After coaxing them into your bottle, you put them in your bag. 

"It's strange how your pet is a kelpie, but your alias is also 'Chef Kelpie'..."

"Well... I guess that people resemble their pets more than we think. Or should I say, my family?" You held the bottom of the bag, feeling the bottle in place.

"Mhm." He agreed as you followed him into a clearing, then he whistled loudly. "Here's my family." 

"Who?"

He smiled. "Kiss."

A large black bird descended behind him, gracefully flapping its wings. It barely made any sound at all, not even the leaves near it rustled. "Kiss, meet (Y/n)-san." He placed his hand on his beak, rubbing it. "(Y/n)-san, meet Kiss."

You stared at the beast. It had beautiful feathers, a sharp beak, and strong wings. It was clear that Coco had taken care of him. 

"A-ah, It's nice to meet you, Kiss!" You did a small bow, unsure of how to greet the creature. 

He turned to Coco, slightly confused at the newcomer. "We will be hunting with her today. Is that alright?" He gave a small caw in response then lowered itself. 

Coco climbed on, motioning you to join him. "Please. Make yourself comfortable, and most importantly, hold on tight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to the fact I am very bored, I will now put very, very bad jokes in these notes when I have nothing else to say.
> 
> -Alternative ending-  
> Coco: The second reason I came here is that Komatsu asked me to accompany you to hunt the cloud fruit.  
> Reader: Oh, cool. Tell him I said no. *Closes door*  
> Coco: ...


End file.
